Do you want to perform better in your sport or discipline without hurting yourself?
Do you want to recover faster after intense training?
Are you worried about feeling tired after overtraining?
Do you want optimal preparation before a competition?
Whether you are a professional athlete, an elite sportsman or someone who likes to exercise a lot, Spa Mobile offers a sports massage service that could improve your physical performance, speed up muscle healing or recovery, and help you avoid injury.
What does sports massage consist of?
If you are an athlete or someone who trains a lot, sports massage is a must in your prevention and maintenance program before, during and after a sports competition and to recover to avoid having injuries.
Each sports practice uses muscle groups differently. Our sports massage therapists must know each muscle, muscle group and how they are affected by each sport’s specific movements and stresses.
A sports massage can be performed as a full body massage or focus on the parts of your body that need the most attention. Deep pressure can be used with calming movements depending on your preference.
You can enjoy a clothed or naked sports massage. If you prefer to wear clothes, make sure they are thin, loose-fitting, and allow the massage therapist to access your muscles. Loose shorts and a tank top are options to consider.
The science behind sports massage
To understand the physical and emotional benefits that regular sports massage can bring, it’s essential to delve into the science behind the therapy.
Sports massage is rooted in the principles of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. By applying targeted pressure, friction and kneading techniques, sports massage aims to improve our physical well-being by increasing blood flow, reducing muscle tension and promoting the body’s natural healing processes.
By increasing blood flow, sports massage therapy allows more oxygen and nutrients to reach muscles in need of renewal and rejuvenation.
What’s more, sports massage can stimulate the nervous system, releasing endorphins that help reduce pain and improve overall well-being. Integrating the scientific mechanisms at work during sports massage can benefit not only athletes and fitness enthusiasts to optimize their performance, but has also been proven to help the general population prevent future injuries, speed up post-operative recovery and increase mobility, whatever your age or lifestyle.
Therapeutic massage or sports massage?
Sports massage is actually a type of therapeutic massage that focuses on treating pain and soft tissue injuries associated with recreational activities. It can reduce your muscle stiffness and improve your relaxation by reducing your heart rate and blood pressure.
Sports massage is excellent if you suffer from a muscle injury from repetitive use while playing sports. It is also a good option if you are prone to injury, as this massage can help you prevent sports injuries. You can also use sports massage to increase your flexibility and physical performance.
Nowadays, sports massage has become an integral part of sports programs, from sports medicine clinics to gyms and even Olympic training. A growing number of coaches believe that sports massage can benefit athletes who participate in high-performance sports.
More and more athletes and people realize that a complete workout routine includes the exercise itself and the management of minor injuries that naturally occur during intense movement.
The physiological and psychological benefits of sports massage make it an ideal addition to a complete conditioning program.
Do you have any pain or injury after overtraining?
Adequate recovery is also a major factor in avoiding overtraining syndrome. This is characterized by irritability, listlessness, altered appetite, increased frequency of injury, increased resting heart rate, and sometimes insomnia.
This syndrome occurs when your body is unable to recover properly between intense exercise sessions. Sports massage helps you avoid overtraining by facilitating recovery through general physical relaxation and providing beneficial physiological effects.
You may also have your own specific pain, possibly from past injuries. Our massage therapists can pay special attention to these areas, monitor them to develop issues, and help you stay in good condition.
Are you a bit disappointed with your athletic performance?
An effective maintenance program is based on the massage therapist’s understanding of anatomy and kinesiology, coupled with expert knowledge of which muscles are used in a given sport and are likely candidates for problems.
By focusing on particular muscle groups and specific issues related to your sport, our massage therapists can help you maintain or improve your range of motion and muscle flexibility.
The purpose of a maintenance program is to help you, as an athlete, achieve peak performance through pain-free and injury-free treatment.
Is your preparation before a competition adequate?
Sports massage can also be offered four hours before a sports competition to improve your performance and help reduce injuries.
It is used to supplement your warm-up to improve blood circulation and reduce muscle tension before a sports competition. Normally shorter with around 15 minutes of treatment, our therapist focuses on warming up the major muscles you will use to achieve better performance.
Sports massage also improves tissue compatibility for superior performance. On the other hand, certain massage techniques can help calm your nervousness, and other massages can be stimulating.
Do you have difficulty recovering after your exercises?
Sports massage helps you recover from the stress of intense exercise and facilitates the rebuilding phase of conditioning. It improves your blood and lymph circulation and provides you with excellent muscle and general relaxation.
Hence, it leads to eliminating waste or toxins, better cellular nutrition, greater elasticity of your tissues, removal of trigger points, and faster healing of injuries.
All of this adds up to relief from pain and stiffness, better flexibility, and less risk of future injuries.
In addition to general recovery, sports massage can also focus on specific muscles used in sports or fitness activities. For example, there is a lot of stress for runners and dancers in the legs, for swimmers in the upper body, for tennis players in the arms. These regions are more likely to be strained, lose flexibility, and develop trigger points.
Do you experience severe pain after rigorous exertion?
Even with a preventative program, you can have muscle cramps, tears, bruises, and aches that can occur after competition or rigorous training. Sports massage can speed up your healing and reduce discomfort during the rehabilitation process.
The soft tissue techniques employed by our sports massage therapists are effective in the management of both acute and chronic injuries. For example, adding lymphatic massage to standard treatment in the acute stage of your injury improves your condition and makes it easier to remove fluids throughout the healing cycle.
Trigger point techniques reduce muscle spasms and pain that occurs in injured muscles. Fibre-to-fibre friction techniques applied during the subacute and maturation phases of healing enhance the formation of strong and flexible repair tissue, which is essential to maintain a full and painless range of motion during rehabilitation.
How does a sports massage work?
At your first visit, expect to give your medical history as well as explain how you got injured and/or what you hope to get out of the visit.
This should be followed by an examination, usually including a basic postural analysis as well as an active and passive examination. The overall clinical picture will help formulate a treatment plan and, based on this, soft tissue techniques will be used to achieve the desired goal.
It’s important to keep several things in mind when consulting a massage therapist:
- Keep your expectations realistic;
- It’s your body, so be aware of how you react;
- If improvements occur, you are on the right track and it may be worth continuing;
- If there is little or no improvement, consider a reassessment. A good massage therapist will refer you to other specialists if the problem does not fall within her competence;
- Wear loose, comfortable sportswear (for example, loose, comfortable running shorts) and avoid clothing that is too tight or restrictive, as this may limit the massage therapist’s ability to access or work on specific areas.
What techniques are commonly used in sports massage?
Sports massage uses a variety of techniques that target specific areas of the body to enhance performance, facilitate recovery and prevent injury. Here are some common techniques you can expect during a sports massage session:
- Effleurage: This technique consists of long, gliding strokes applied with the palms or fingertips, helping to warm muscles and increase blood circulation;
- Kneading: Using kneading and compression movements, kneading helps release muscle tension, promote circulation and improve flexibility;
- Friction: By applying deep circular motions with fingertips or palms, friction can help break down scar tissue, release adhesions and stimulate the healing process;
- Compression: Constant pressure is applied to specific areas, such as trigger points or tight muscles, to relieve muscle knots, improve circulation and reduce pain;
- Stretching: Massage therapists can incorporate stretching techniques to increase flexibility, improve range of motion and prevent muscle imbalances;
- Myofascial release: This technique targets the fascia, a connective tissue surrounding the muscles, to release restrictions and improve mobility;
- Trigger point therapy: Pressure is applied to specific trigger points to relieve localized muscle pain and referred pain patterns;
- Interfiber friction: This technique involves applying transverse pressure to muscle fibers to break down scar tissue, improve flexibility and enhance muscle function.
These techniques, combined with the expertise of a qualified sports massage therapist, can help you relieve muscle tension, improve recovery time after a fitness injury or post-operative recovery, enhance sports performance and prevent injury.
Don’t forget to consult your massage therapist, so that he or she can advise you and discuss the techniques best suited to your specific needs and objectives.
Does a sports massage hurt?
The intensity of the sports massage can vary according to the level of discomfort felt: this can depend on each individual’s pain tolerance, specific techniques and areas treated. It is important to develop a two-way communicative feedback system to better understand pressure and comfort levels. Pressure adjustments can then be made.
Sports massage techniques can range from gentle and relaxing to deep and intense, depending on the session’s objectives and specific needs. Although some discomfort or mild pain may be felt, it should not be excessively painful or unbearable. It’s important to note that this is a temporary response.
It’s essential to work with a skilled and experienced physiotherapist or sports masseur who can personalize the treatment, taking into account your specific needs while adjusting the pressure accordingly and still delivering an effective result.
Choose a unique sports massage with Spa Mobile
Sports massage is a type of massage that focuses on tense muscle fibres associated with sports and is useful in helping you perform better. Treatment for a sports massage can vary depending on your injury or personal preference and can apply to soft tissue, deep tissue, and your entire body.
We invite you to make an appointment with one of our massage therapists for a sports massage session.
