Everyone can benefit by exercising, from the professional athlete to the beginner just starting a workout routine. During physical activity, muscle tension builds up in the body’s soft tissue and can remain long after exercise is complete. This accounts for the sore, stiff feeling that is common the day after beginning a new exercise regime.
Sports massage specifically addresses this aftereffect of strenuous exercise. It is also designed to help athletes (and all who exercise) to achieve enhanced performance, improved conditioning, faster recovery, injury prevention, and peak fitness.
Competitors from all athletic backgrounds include sports massage in their training routine. Many professional and collegiate sports programs also employ massage therapists to work with their team members. In this way, sports massage has become a mainstream approach for individuals who participate in exercise programs, and athletes looking to stay in good shape.
Sports massage programs at Finger Lakes School of Massage (FLSM) in Westchester excel in providing their students with in-depth training and real-life practice in this specialized method of working with athletes.
Benefits of Sports Massage
Sports massage improves athletic performance, speeds recovery, and can be used by anyone who participates in athletic or exercise programs. Students enrolled in sports massage programs at Finger Lakes School of Massage (FLSM) in Westchester discover the many advantages which this discipline offers athletes:
1. Decreases post-exercise muscle stiffness and fatigue
2. Reduces muscle tension
3. Helps athletes monitor muscle tone
4. Promotes relaxation
5. Increases range of motion
6. Improves soft tissue function
7. Improves exercise performance
8. Reduces swelling
9. Reduces breathing pattern disorders
10. Enhances athletic performance
11. May help prevent injuries when massage is received regularly
Sports Massage Techniques
Sports massage techniques are sometimes adapted from Swedish massage which offers many different means to successfully address muscle tension. Hydrotherapy (the application of heat and cold) is also used, as well as facilitated stretching and range of motion exercises. Methods which more specifically address muscle tension may also be employed, such as myofascial release and neuromuscular therapy.
Sports massage programs at Finger Lakes School of Massage in Westchester offer an exciting and varied approach to training in these basic techniques. Students also participate in live athletic events to gain hands-on experience in working with real team members.
Sports Massage: When Is It Needed?
Sports massage can be offered in a variety of ways and at specific times in order to enhance benefits. This includes pre-event massage to prepare muscles for peak performance, or post-event massage to assist muscles in recovering from the stress of performance.
Athletes also receive sports massage between events, both as a form of muscle maintenance and as preparation for the next event. Finally, if an injury has occurred, sports massage is often used to assist in rehabilitation. So sports massage therapists may find their work settings include sporting events as well as seeing athletes within their private offices.
Within the sports massage programs in Westchester, FLSM students learn the techniques to assist athletes in all phases of their chosen path, whether that is professional sports, a neighborhood league, or individual self-improvement.
