A sports massage therapy session is usually more intense than a general full-body relaxation massage. In most cases, the therapist will focus on the particular muscles most stressed by your activity, the legs of a runner for instance. After a strenuous workout, your muscles are fatigued, stiff and sore. Sports massage helps to stretch the shortened muscles. It increases circulation to the tissues, thereby removing metabolic waste products and bringing in needed oxygen and other nutrients to renourish and repair the sore muscles. You can resume normal functioning much sooner. And if you are recovering faster, that means that you can do more quality workouts per given period of time. By receiving massage, you are facilitating the rebuilding phase of conditioning.

Sports massage helps to maintain healthy tissues. Sports massage will also help prevent your minor aches and pains from becoming major injuries that may force you to stop training. Chronically sore areas may affect posture and running form, thereby decreasing efficiency and possibly causing other injuries.

Sports massage therapy can treat many minor injuries and sore areas. Using a combination of massage techniques, stretching, cryotherapy, and electrical stimulation, injuries such as tendonitis, muscle strains, and ligament sprains can be successfully treated by a properly trained and licensed massage therapist. Of course, serious injuries should be evaluated by your physician or by your physical therapist.

Pre-event sports massage is brief and invigorating and usually lasts 5-10 minutes. It is used to loosen muscles prior to the activity. Along with light stretching, it will help make sure that the muscles are warmed up and ready to go. It can also help to calm pre-race jitters, allowing the athlete to better focus on the event. Pre-event massage is normally performed within 1-2 hours of the event.

Post-event sports massage can help to minimize pain and discomfort, prevent stiffness, reduce inflammation and return muscles to their normal state more quickly after the race. Post-event massage is more calming and relaxing and is usually combined with light stretching. It can decrease recovery time dramatically. Typically, the session is within 2 hours of the event and generally lasts 10-15 minutes. Be sure to take advantage of post race massage if it’s available - even if you have to pay a nominal fee! A full hour or 90 minute sports massage session is best scheduled within 48 hours of the event.