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Sports Massageby Lavon Watson, LMP, Life Changes Massage in Redmond, WA |
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Because each athletic event stresses different muscle groups, it is impossible to speak to all of them in the space here. However, some general truths about sports massage apply no matter what competitive forum you use to express yourself. Regular sports massage can reduce your chance of injury, improve range of motion, shorten recovery times, and enhance the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissue. All of this can give you an advantage over the competition, but more importantly, it can put some of the enjoyment back into something that you probably pursued for fun in the first place. Three basic areas of sports massage are important to understand if you are an athlete: maintenance massage, event massage, and rehabilitation massage. Unfortunately many clients are introduced to massage for rehabilitation after sustaining an injury. This stems from the erroneous belief that you only need massage when you're hurt. With that in mind, let's spend some time getting to understand the basic concept of these three components of sports massage.
Maintenance massage is intended to help you reach your optimal performance through injury-free training. Your massage practitioner should have a clear understanding of the specific muscles used in your sport as well as your personal history regarding past injuries. It also may be valuable for the practitioner to watch you compete, if your activity is somewhat unusual or not mainstream. The goal with maintenance massage is to maintain or enhance range of motion and shorten recovery time between workouts. Circulatory massage can effectively eliminate the metabolic by-products of exercise that often cause pain and stiffness the day after a workout. This is what I refer to as a metabolic hangover. Using maintenance massage to feel better after a workout is fine, but for the competitive runner (for example), it also means you can often compress more workouts into a smaller period of time. By shortening recovery time, you can add a few runs a month to your schedule and attain your goal quicker while staying injury free. I saw an interview recently with Michael Phelps where he spoke to the training regime he used to prepare for the Olympics. Interestingly he mentioned that he would get three or four workouts more a month than his competitors did, and he felt that was a valuable advantage. Maintenance massage is also a good way to commune with your body, and your therapist can help you get in touch with how and what you're feeling. Some athletes ignore the tightness in their hamstring and just work through it. Eventually the brain gets tired of paying attention to this annoyance and moves on to other things. Unfortunately, that can lead to a hamstring strain. Your therapist can work with you so you come to know what's going on with your body and help you intervene before a problem develops.
Event massage is generally broken down into two categories: pre-event and post-event. Pre-event massage is used to supplement your warm up and is intended to enhance circulation and reduce excess muscle and mental tension prior to the competition. This is not the time to think that you can get that pulled hamstring fixed. You can expect the therapist to help you stretch out a little before the event so that your tight hamstring may not become a problem during the race, but you'll still need to deal with it sooner or later.
Post-event massage, on the other hand, is geared toward reducing muscle spasms and metabolic waste build-up that occurs with vigorous exercise. The build-up of metabolic waste is usually worse after competing because you tend to push yourself harder than you do during your regular workouts. It may also be smart to schedule a regular massage for the afternoon after the race or for the next day, if possible. Some event promoters will have massage therapists on hand at the race and some will even pay the therapists or convince them to volunteer their time. It's not always convenient for a competitor to carry cash around when getting ready to race, but this may be a wise thing to do. I always recommend that you ask the promoter, well before the event, if sports massage will be provided and if there is any cost to you. Rehabilitation massage, as mentioned earlier, is often how athletes come to know about the benefits of bodywork. After sustaining an injury, many athletes try a variety of means to quickly get back into their training routine. It should be made clear that although massage practitioners (LMPs) are healthcare providers in Washington State, they cannot diagnose your injury, so you will need to see a doctor for that determination. Many therapists are insurance providers and your policy may provide for massage treatment in dealing with an injury. Most massage therapists are well prepared to help deal with the various stages of injury you might face, and you should be sure that they understand when and how your injury occurred. Acute injuries, sub-acute injuries, and chronic conditions all call for a slightly different approach to treatment. Immediately following an injury, reducing edema and inflammation is extremely important to prevent secondary hypoxia (lack of oxygen and nutrients at the injury). If the injury is not addressed quickly, this secondary hypoxia causes cells to die, creating additional damage at the injury site. This damage occurs because the cells are distanced from the capillary beds as result of the generalized swelling to the area. This is why you need to use rest, ice, compression, and elevation (R.I.C.E.). Although some massage on surrounding structures may be supportive, usually the goals are to prevent additional damage and reduce discomfort. During the sub-acute and maturation phase is where most therapists really want to begin actively working on the injury site. Deep tissue massage, trigger point release, cross-fiber friction, and range of motion work are usually used while scar tissue is actively forming. Goals are generally directed at reducing pain and improving range of motion at this time. Most therapists can also support you by providing appropriate stretches and homework to do between treatments, if you're really motivated. I tell my clients that they can provide themselves with 24 X 7 care while I may only see them for an hour or two a week. It is also important to understand that one massage will probably not make your injury go away. Massage can have profound and immediate results for muscle tension or muscle guarding around an injury site, however an injury still needs time to heal. Even with muscle tension it may take some time and several sessions to re-educate the muscle as to its new (or former) resting length. You also need to understand that the injury may be of a repetitive nature and may be well established after prolonged aggravation. This is especially true for runners who run long distances and push their bodies during their training regimes. It is unrealistic to expect that one massage session will undo an injury sustained through several years of abuse. You may need to completely change the way you train or take some time off to recover but just as with your running you need to set realistic goals for your recovery. |
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I hope this information is helpful. I wrote the article for Northwest Runner magazine several years ago assuming that the reader knew little or nothing about massage. I refer to massage practitioners in this article as massage therapists only because that's a common term. When selecting someone for massage in Washington State, always seek a Licensed Massage Practitioner (LMP) and ask a lot of questions about their training and practice. You can choose from numerous styles of bodywork, and out of respect to all of these, I tried not to direct you to or from any specific style of work. I personally use Soft Tissue Release techniques and deep tissue massage in my practice, but I always appreciate the value of other styles of work as well. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call me at (425) 861-7334. Credits: Life Magazine (August 1997), AMTA publication: Sports Massage, The Athlete's & Athletic Trainers Edge |
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