Steve Haywood Health & Fitness

An article by Rob Scott © 2007 Steve Haywood Health & Fitness

Sports massage is a form of massage which involves the manipulation of soft tissue. This is primarily for people involved in regular exercise or physical activity. Soft tissue includes skin, muscles, tendons and ligaments. Sports massage is designed to help correct problems within soft tissue that are caused by repetitive and strenuous physical activity and trauma.

The application of sports massage before and after exercise or physical activity can enhance performance, aid recovery, and prevent injury.

Where did Sports Massage Originate?

Massage was one of the earliest forms of therapy and was used over 3000 years ago. Per Henrik Ling (1776-1839 see picture) developed what is now known as Swedish Massage and made the techniques popular in Western Europe. Ling developed massage to help fencers and gymnasts, and many of his ideas have formed the basis of modern Sports Massage.

Nowadays,there are many forms of massage that can assist us in maintaining both health and wellbeing. Sports massage has been used and accepted in the US and Canada for a number of years, though its use in the UK has only really taken off since the 1990s, until then, there were very few courses for, or skilled people, involved with sports massage in the UK.

How does sports massage benefit people who exercise?

Sports massage benefits by assisting in the processes of overcompensation and adaptation.

During and after exercise, the body’s systems adapt to cope with the increased stresses and strains placed on them. These adaptations affect the muscles, the bones, the tissues, the nerves and the brain. Done correctly, regular excercise helps the body to cope with increased levels of stress (overload), which in turn allows the body to exercise at higher intensities or for longer durations. This is due to a process called overcompensation. While recovering from overload, the body overcompensates to increase it’s power of resistance to future similar stress.

How the body overcompensates or adapts depends upon the type of stress placed on it. Training programs for fitness or sport are based on the principle of specificity: adaptations are specific to certain types of stress. For example, a football player who requires bursts of speed and explosive power will need a training program that specifically enhances these qualities. On the other hand, a marathon runner would focus upon exercises that increase endurance over all other qualities.

The manipulation of soft tissue prior to and after exercise promotes physical, physiological and psychological changes that aid performance and, particularly, recovery. Some examples of benefits to the exerciser are:

• Release of muscle tension and pain; removal of waste products, especialy through the lymphatic system;
• Reduced discomfort from DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) which results from vigorous exercise
• Improved posture and flexibility.

There are many other conditions that can be improved through the use of sports massage, if you are in any doubt as to whether or not sports massage is right for you, please contact us.

Who can benefit from sports massage?

Anyone who engages in regular physical activity for the purposes of sport or fitness - irrespective of age, level of fitness or level of training - can benefit from sports massage. Athletes, gym users, or anyone with minor injuries or “niggles” will find that sports massage can encourage the healing process. Recreational and competetive athletes following regular training programmes will benefit through enhanced recovery and early detection of any problems arising from training stress. Athletes engaged in sporting events or competitions can benefit before during and after events depending upon whether the need is for muscle relaxation, relief of tension or relief from soreness etc.

Sports Massage & Sports Therapy

Sports massage is one of the skills utilised in the practice of sports therapy. Sports therapy also includes the management and treatment of sports injuries, exercise therapy and rehabilitation, as well as sports nutrition.

Is Sports Massage a recognised form of therapy?

Sports massage has become more popular as the number of people participating in sport and fitness activities has increased as well as the demands that are placed upon athletes. Many athletes are being introduced to sports massage and are increasingly aware of its benefits. While it is a recognised practice in the USA, Canada, Australia and some European countries, acceptance in the UK has been a relatively slow process. In addition, there have been few scientific studies into the benfits of sports massage, which has provided little evidence, apart from a huge amount of anecdotal evidence, for the benefits of sports massage. This has also hindered its development.

Research in sports medicine, however, is revealing more information about the impact of exercise and injury on the human body and its systems, which can be and is being utilised in the study of sports massage. As a result, sports massage is becomming more widely accepted by athletes, sports scientists, coaches and industry bodies as a means of enhancing performance, aiding recovery and preventing injury.

While there is currently no national governing body responsible for setting professional standards of practice for sports massage, the National Sports Medicine Institute has formed a committee to draw up minimum criteria for the teaching of sports massage. A register of teaching organisations that meet these criteria has now been established for the public: this is available through the National Sports Medicine Institute.

How is Sports Massage different from other massage?

While other forms of massage have similar aims as sports massage - such as physical and mental relaxation - sports massage is specifically designed to assist athletes in their sport or fitness activities. A sports massage therapist is concerned primarily with:

• Muscular and skeletal alignment;
• How exercise affects the bodies systems;
• How massage can promote or reduce these effects to benefit the athlete.

Many of the aims of sports massage, such as injury prevention and the promotion of recovery from exercise are therefore quite different from other forms of massage.