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Personally I think it’s a fantastic treat to have a deep soft tissue treatment. You can categorically say every premiership football and rugby team, every pro cycling team, all the top tennis pros, formula one drivers etc etc, will all have regular treatment from soft tissue expert (sports massage therapists).
Currently there’s not much evidence to say that there are many,if any physiological benefits to pre/post exercise massage, there is however proof of a psychological benefit of a massage to an athlete, and of course plenty of anecdotal evidence of the benefit of a sports massage.
If you have a scientific thirst why not have a read of this research? (good bedtime reading), British journal of sports medicine, Br j Sports Med 2000
Why am I flipping between calling it a sports massage, deep soft tissue treatment, massage ?, well calling it a sports massage implies you have to be a sports person to benefit, this certainly isn’t the case, anyone and age can benefit, another misconception is that the treatment has to be painful throughout, this again is not the case.
Just picking up the phone and booking yourself a treatment with a fully qualified practitioner, is in itself very therapeutic.
With over 18 years experience as a fully qualified sports massage therapist, and 13 yrs experience as a registered osteopath, I feel the reason I have a sports massage every four to six weeks is the proven benefits psychologically, i.e. it makes me feel like I have given myself a fantastic therapeutic hour of relaxation, it feels great, makes me aware of tension within muscles that I wasn’t aware of, a release of happy hormones. I would also argue that it loosens and takes tension out of tight muscles, which in turn allows the joints they cross or attach too, to move through a fuller range of movement.
Remember you don’t have to be sports person to benefit from a treatment, if you would like to find out more, or would like to book a sports massage (soft tissue treatment) don’t hesitate to give me a call.
Rick Weatherall
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