4 Massive Benefits Of Massage Therapy For Athletes

December 20, 2022
Kinetik Chain Denver Physical Therapy

As an athlete, we understand that you want to perform at your best – you want to be fast, strong, and powerful, and massage therapy can help you achieve this.

In this blog, you can learn what exactly massage therapy is, and 4 massive benefits of massage therapy for athletes who want to do well at the sports they love.

What Is Massage Therapy?

Massage therapy is a term that covers a range of techniques where a massage therapist provides hands on treatment to manipulate your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and connective tissues.

Depending on your goal, and preference, there are a wide variety of massage types to suit you including sports massage, myofascial massage and lymphathic massage.

If you are looking for stress relief, and relaxation, Swedish massage, hot stone massage, or a therapeutic massage would be best suited to help unwind at the end of a busy week, or to enjoy as a treat.

But what if you are an athlete – are there benefits of massage therapy for athletes who want more than to just feel good and relax?

4 Massive Benefits Of Massage Therapy For Athletes

Massage therapy for athletes has lots of benefits, and should be part of your recovery routine if you want to perform at your best, minimise injuries and recover faster from training.

But what are the exact benefits of massage therapy for athletes?

Reduced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is the soreness you will have definitely experienced after a tough game, hard workout or returning to training after the off season.

You’ll notice stiffness, pain and discomfort after about 12 hours, and this usually spikes around 48 hours.

After this point, the affected muscles will gradually return to normal, with reduced pain, and their usual range of motion.

But, massage therapy has been proven to speed up this time frame which is incredibly useful for athletes.

By minimising DOMS, you are able to train and play sports without limited movement, stiffness or muscle pain.

Improved Athletic Performance

Massage improves athletic performance by allowing your body to move freely, and without pain or stiffness.

From a psychological perspective – How difficult is it to concentrate on your sport when your muscles are painful and your joints hurt every time you move?

With your body in peak condition, you can fully concentrate on your game, and you can reach your peak athletic performance.

From a physical perspective – Your muscles and joints aren’t inflamed, damaged or tight and this mean that your body is able to do everything you ask of it.

Prevent Injury

Injuries can happen because certain muscles are too tight, tense and overactive, whilst others are too relaxed and aren’t switching on when they need to.

Massage therapy can address this problem due to the physical pressure applied by your massage therapist, leaving your body able to move as it should and at a lower risk of injury.

And we all know how important injury prevention is for athletes, meaning that you don’t have to take time off from practice, or miss games.

As well as an effective warm up, massage therapy before exercise can greatly reduce injury.

Faster Recovery From Injuries

Even with the best recovery plan, you can still pick up injuries.

Massage therapy is a way to speed up your recovery from injuries by stimulating circulation to the damaged tissues which brings oxygens and nutrients to the injured area.

Massage also helps the muscles clear metabolic waste, such as lactic acid, which helps the healing process further.

Massage Therapist For Athletes In Denver

Alongside Sports Physical Therapy, Massage Therapy could be the key to helping you stop your niggling injuries, recover much faster, and perform better at the sport you love.

If you are currently struggling with knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain, or anything else that’s stopping you playing your best, and leaving you unable to enjoy your game, we invite you speak to one of our friendly, professional massage therapists in Denver, today.

You can start by arranging a Free Discovery Visit in our Denver clinic where you can discover the most effective massage therapy treatments for athletes like you.

We are extremely busy in clinic, as more and more people seek expert help for their aches and pains, so we only have 7 Free Discovery Visits available at the moment.

If you prefer to speak to a member of our expert team by telephone, you can arrange a Free Telephone Consultation or call us on (720) 651-0674.

Our team have worked with hundreds of patients struggling with sports related injuries using a variety of treatments including Physical Therapy, Personal Training, and Dry Needling so get the help you need today!