Sports Massage is More Than Healing a Muscle Injury

August 24, 2010 By 1 Comment

Sports Massage is More Than Healing an Injury

Today’s realisation - sports massage is more than healing a muscle injury.  Picture the scene…you are a dedicated tennis player who gets so much enjoyment and physical exercise from competing in a game several times a week.  Suddenly, for no apparent reason, your lower back starts to give you pain when you bend and twist.  The next time you play a game of tennis, any kind of movement from your back including twisting, reaching up with your racket and bending forward to hit the shot once again gives you pain.  Your confidence is shattered and you are very disappointed and worried about why your lower back has suddenly starting to give you pain. 

It will be ok, the pain will go away in a few days…so you take a few days rest.

The following week, your lower back pain is still causing problems so it’s time to seek further advice.  Sports massage is the ideal initial treatment.  Any good sports massage therapist should be able to assess your injury and treat the soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments) around the surrounding area of pain.  Sometimes, where the pain presents itself is NOT where the injury is coming from!!!  The mechanics of the body can be rather complicated.

After a few sports massage treatments your lower back pain starts to ease.  However, you are left feeling nervous about playing again, just in case the pain returns. 

The real value of sports massage therapy is not only the treatment plan but the confidence that it can give you in going forward.  The injury (or sometimes just simple muscle tension) happened for a reason…and the good ole’ saying “prevention is better than a cure” really takes on a meaning.  After your assessment and treatments, your sports massage therapist can prescribe corrective exercises, stretches and strengthening movements.  One of the best ways to prevent future problems is to have ‘maintenance’ sports massage on a regular basis – once a month is a good starting point.

If you are serious about training correctly, playing and competing in sport, sports massage will not only heal an injury, but it can also give you the confidence to REALLY enjoy your sport.

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Two Great Total Body Exercises. Why?

May 14, 2009 By 1 Comment

What are you hoping to achieve from your exercise program?  Weight loss, toned muscles, flatten your stomach (finally!), improve your CV fitness, improve your ‘functional’ strength or just shift some of the excess from your backside? Can two simple movements address all of these things?  The answer is simple.  YES!

Are you able to sit down on a chair, and then get back up again?  Then you can squat.  As we get older and begin to lose strength and flexibility, the sitting down motion is easy, but the getting back up again may need some assistance from the armrest.  Unless you train your body to cope with this movement, squatting (or sitting down) will continue to get more difficult as you get older.  The good news is that performing this simple movement as part of an exercise program will help with all of the ‘goals’ listed above.  The benefits of squatting are these;

Fat and weight loss – working your muscles against gravity will improve your lean muscle tissue and assist with greater fat loss and help to tone your muscles and backside!

Flatten your stomach – yes, squatting can also be considered a core exercise in a ‘functional’ way.  Your muscles work as a kinetic chain, from head to toes.  If you train your body to move as one unit, i.e. everything working together, this will improve your balance. core strength and help to flatten your stomach.

CV fitness – squats will increase your heart rate and can be a great form of CV exercise (whilst toning your muscles, improving your core strength and helping to flatten your stomach).

Functional strength and flexibility – have you ever experienced lower back pain?  A major factor in lower back pain can be caused by tight muscles and lack of flexibility, i.e. your kinetic chain isn’t working as one unit.  Squatting will help to overcome this.

When performed correctly, this simple movement pattern can be so beneficial.  It can also be progressed in so many ways to include your upper body strength and further improve your core strength.

The Squat

The Lunga

The same goes for the lunge.  Can you walk up and down stairs?  Then you can lunge.

Always seek the advice from a professional before starting an exercise program.  Your body will thank you for it!

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