Massage & Exercise

Now, here’s good news – if you work out, massage is great for you!  More and more sports and fitness enthusiasts are including massage as a part of their conditioning programs. It’s not just for the professional athlete or the person who is training for the Olympics. Massage is for everyone and needs to be looked at as a health benefit and not a luxury. People just like you and me are including massage as part of their regular exercise programs. Almost anyone can benefit from massage, athlete or not.

Commonly known benefits include relaxation, improved circulation and relief of muscle tension. Fitness enthusiasts/athletes will find that massage helps improve their flexibility; muscles tend not to be as sore and stiff; it helps in their recovery time, and reduces the anxiety of athletic competition. Massage can help improve performance, increase endurance, and help lower fatigue levels. By reducing fatigue, athletes can train better with longer more effective workouts. When you choose massage or stretches between workouts, there is a high increase in recovery time.

There are many styles of massage around, so shop around and find the one that is best for you. A few styles to look for that are good for people involved with an exercise program are Swedish, Deep Tissue, Bamboo Fusion and Therapeutic massage. Each is very different. A good massage therapist may use many different styles and gear the massage toward your needs.

Article modified from www.wholefitness.com

While the benefits of massage after moderate to heavy exercise is widely accepted, there have been studies performed that challenge certain commonly held ideas such as massage removes lactic acid from muscles cells thus reducing pain and soreness or massage aids in the recovery of muscle tissue by reducing swelling and muscle fatigue.  Listed below are two articles worth the time involved to review and consider.   After having done many pre and post sports massages, I still advocate the benefit of massage for anyone involved in routine moderate to heavy exercise.

Massage After Exercise May Speed Muscle Recovery Massaging (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080812213937.htm)

Phys Ed: Does Massage Help After Exercise?

(http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/phys-ed-does-massage-help-after-exercise/)

Melissa Jarufe, LMT

December, 2011