Enhance performance, recovery and improve overall well-being
Sports massage is a popular training tool for recreational and professional athletes alike, providing individuals with a relaxing and educational experience. Sports massage targets the soft muscle tissues specifically used within a particular sport and can be performed pre-performance, post performance, during training, or a rehabilitation period.
Sports massage increases blood flow and oxygenation to the regions of the body being worked on, increasing flexibility whilst stimulating the muscle tissue via manipulation of specific areas relevant to a given sport. This form of massage is more targeted and practitioners must have additional kinesiology and medical knowledge. It is always important to access sports massage from those who have been appropraitely certified in this health care profession and soft tissue discipline.
Benefits
The primary benefits of a sports massage include its ability to increase flexibility, soothe the nervous system, and improve sleep quality. There are many other physical and psychological benefits of this massage that are anecdotally reported by athletes.
Flexibility: By working on the soft muscle tissue and manipulating these areas, a practitioner can reduce muscle tensions that prevent a full range of motion and decrease flexibility. This is critical for athletes who utilise full ranges of motion during their performance.
Nervous System: Exertion on the same muscle groups can cause muscle spasms and issues with your nervous system. A sports-oriented massage is a way to relax the nerves and prevent discomfort, particularly while sleeping. This may also be beneficial during higher-intensity sports, such as sprinting, as reported in the study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
Muscle Tension: Tension and muscle soreness occur after higher-intensity activities, and regular sports massage may help restore equilibrium to the body, achieving a relaxed and restored baseline. This is required by athletes who regularly ask a lot from their bodies.
Sleep Quality: Muscle tension and fatigue can inhibit sleep in some cases despite being physically exhausted. Sports massage is proven to ease sleep disturbances and help the body relax after intense exercise, as explained in the study from the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies.
Prevent Injury: One of the primary reason’s sports massage is so popular is because it can reduce injury potential, by identifying problem spots, a sports massage therapist can help athletes avoid more serious injuries.
Recovery Time: Many athletes attribute increassed recovery time to sports massage, enabling them to perform again more quickly. Massage can help to stimulate the body’s natural repair process which can improve recovery time, however, further research and investigation on this subject is required.
Sports Massage a Comprehensive Review
The Effects of Chronic Sports Massage on Strength and Flexibility
The use of Sports Massage in Sport
Massage Therapy and Restless Legs Syndrome
The Role of Massage in Sports Performance and Rehabilitation: Current Evidence and Future Direction
Effectiveness of Sports Massage for Recovery of Skeletal Muscle from Strenuous Exercise
Recreational, amateur, and elite sport performance
Sports Therapy is an aspect of healthcare that is specifically concerned with the prevention of injury and the rehabilitation of the athlete/patient back to optimum levels of functional, occupational and sports specific fitness, regardless of age and ability. Utilising the principles of sport and exercise science incorporating physiological and pathological processes to prepare an athlete/patient for training, competition and where applicable, work.
A Sports Therapist is a distinct occupational title that applies to a clearly defined scope of practice. A Sports Therapist, who is a Member of The Society of Sports Therapists is an allied health professional who has the knowledge, skills and ability to provide the following:
Sports and exercise principles to optimise performance, preparation and injury prevention programmes.
Provide the immediate care of injuries and basic life support in a recreational, training, occupational & competitive environment.
Assess, treat, rehabilitate and, where and if appropriate, refer on for specialist advice and intervention.
Provide appropriate soft tissue interventions in a sport & exercise context.
Plan and implement appropriate rehabilitation and return to training/work programmes.
The Society of Sports Therapists (2020)
Strength & conditioning for ages 8 to 18 years
Youth sports academies have grown exponentially in recent years, with more parents investing time and commitment into their child’s future potential as aspiring young athletes, whether this is within team sports or individual. There is an ongoing field of research that is developing within sports science for youth development, which investigates optimal windows of opportunity for specific development of the various physical qualities at a child’s disposal (strength, speed, endurance etc.). These are no longer novel concepts but widely accepted internationally, demonstrating differing windows of opportunity across chronical age, biological age, and hormonal stages for both male and female athletes.
As strength is the underpinning physical quality for speed, power or endurance we can agree strength development is a necessary prerequisite to facilitate any youth sports performance programme.
Our team of specialists have over a decade worth of culminative experience working within youth sport and physical literacy developmental programmes, across multiple sports.
Long term health & wellbeing
Strength development for woman has become an increasingly popular recreational hobby and even more popular in amateur and elite woman’s sport performance. It is widely recognised and accepted as an integral part of increasing sport performance, reducing injury potential, and developing general fitness, health and wellbeing.
Strength development has a growing body of research confirming the reduction of the symptoms of menopause in mature woman, associated with osteoporosis and reduced bone density, furthermore, resistance training has been identified as contributing to increases in calcium deposits, increasing bone density and reducing the potential for injury, whilst maintaining healthy and supple joints… and of course, for an incredible aesthetic physique.
The coaches have both a passion and active participation in woman’s strength development and are experienced in woman’s resistance training, strength development and weightlifting for 1-2-1 coaching and small group training. We aim to establish confidence and competency in the art of weightlifting and the science of strength development.
Occupational and sedentary living
The most prevalent form of day to day strength development is now being observed in local gyms and health clubs, with increasing numbers of “chronic back issues” developing globally, it has become a serious issue that requires interventions by specialist professionals such as sports therapists, strength coaches and massage therapists.
Sadly, chronic pain is becoming a more common problem then necessary, we now live in a world where we live longer, sit longer, and do less. The result of which is imbalances and stressors that contribute to chronic issues linked to postural alignment, onset of inflammation, arthritis, sciatica, shortening of muscular tissue and reduction in ranges of motion through joints, leading to chronic pain and long-term mobility problems.
Our coaches and therapists are skilled in sports therapy, strength development and soft tissue therapies that will enhance mobility function, reduce chronic pain and specifically address the root cause of the “problem”, to reestablish functional, pain free movement, increasing ranges of motion and addressing postural “issues”.
Injury & fall rehabilitation
Strength training has become a widely used form of injury prevention, and rehabilitation post injury or fall, developing robustness in mature populations. There is now a plethora of research spanning decades that identifies strength development as a key contributor in increasing calcium deposits leading to increases in bone density and muscle function, whilst maintaining and restoring joint health.
We understand as we mature our bone mineral density decreases over time, coupled with hormone imbalances and an overall reduction in general physical health and fitness, which may lead to more injuries, prolonged recovery times post-surgery, or generally more aches and stiffness which may contribute to chronic pain further down the road if not addressed early enough. This is often observed in more mature populations as natural degeneration occurs through osteoporosis, arthritis, and more sedentary living.
Our Team of specialists can provide specifically tailored strength programmes to reduce the chances of long-term dysfunction, reduce the onset of the above conditions, or post fall or injury, as well as reducing the common symptoms of ageing. Prolonging healthy bones, maintaining a healthy hormone balance, and increasing overall health and fitness.