Why Every Athlete Should Get Regular Massages

Even though massage therapy has been around for thousands of years, many people only think of it as a way to relax and relieve stress. While that can be an important aspect of massage, it can also offer several therapeutic benefits as well, including:

• Treating soft tissue injuries, strains, and sprains
• Relieving sciatica and neck, back, and arm pain
• Managing chronic health conditions, like fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, and headaches
• Supporting postoperative pain recovery and lymphedema 

You can even benefit from regular massage therapy appointments without having pain or an existing health condition, especially if you’re an athlete.

During physical or strenuous forms of activity, it’s common for muscle tension to build in your soft tissues. When you combine muscle tension with overuse and overextension, it’s common to develop minor injuries or other issues that can negatively impact your performance and cause pain. But, regular massage can help.

At One Accord Physical Therapy, our team has extensive experience and training in a wide range of therapeutic massage techniques. We customize each massage to your individual needs as an athlete at all of our Arizona locations, including Casa Grande, Gilbert, Mesa, and Phoenix. This approach helps reduce your risk of injury, keep you in peak performance, and improve your psychological edge.

Massage can reduce your risk of injury

Athletes rely on specific muscles based on their sport, which causes tension to build up in certain areas of their body. For example, cyclists often have tight groin and inner thigh muscles, while swimmers rely more heavily on their neck muscles, trapeziuses, and rotator cuffs. When you heavily exercise the same muscles, they can lose their flexibility and ability to relax. This increases your chances of muscle soreness and injury, especially tears and strains. 

By incorporating a personalized massage therapy plan into your training regimen, we can target your overworked muscles and help them relax. This can keep your muscles functioning properly and in alignment, dramatically improving your body’s performance and reducing your chances of injury.

Massage keeps your body in peak condition

The tighter your muscles, the worse your blood flow. Not only can this trigger pain, but it can also affect your performance. When you have regular massage as an athlete, it not only relaxes your muscles, but it can trigger new mitochondria growth. These cells convert nutrients and energy, which improve your athletic performance and help your muscles process oxygen more efficiently. 

Regular massage therapy can also increase the range of motion in your muscles and reduce the amount of recovery time you need between workouts or events.

Massage improves your psychological edge

When your body is working in peak condition, it can improve your mental health and give you an advantage as an athlete. Regular massage helps make this happen by providing numerous benefits, including:

• Reducing blood pressure and heart rate
• Lowering anxiety
• Improving mood
• Increasing blood flow
• Decreasing muscle pain and tension
• Improving sleep quality 

Regular massage therapy can also stabilize your cortisol levels. This stress hormone regulates several of your body systems, including your metabolism and immune system. Stabilizing your cortisol can improve the way your body responds to stress.

To make regular massage part of your training program, call us at One Accord Physical Therapy or schedule an appointment online today.