Enhance Your Performance with Massage Therapy
What is Sport Massage Therapy?
The application of specific and treatment oriented massage techniques to an athlete with the purpose of enhancing the athlete’s preparation for, or recovery from the physical demands of training or competition.
Sport massage is applied through specific pre-event, inter-event, post-event and restoration/training massage techniques used primarily on-site at an event or at the host or team health care clinic.
In a recently published article entitled, “Benefits of Massage for Athletes,” author and expert, Kerrie Ann Frey, writes:
“Professional athletes and their coaches have sworn by massage therapy for years, going so far as to keep massage therapists on the payroll indefinitely,” adding that, until recently, there hasn’t been conclusive evidence that massage really does have a positive effect on athletes.
“However,” Frey writes, “thanks to new studies and some backing by reputable sources, the benefits of massage are being taken seriously. And those benefits are not just for the pros. They’re extended to anyone who participates in a regular exercise program.”
Some Benefits of Sport Massage Include:
- Encourage general relaxation or readiness
- Reduce anxiety/competition stress
- Increase feelings of well being
- Increase alertness and mental clarity
- Boost confidence
- Used for mental preparation (rehearsal, visualization, focus)
“Used as preventative maintenance or to address pain or to assist in recovery, massages can be an essential weapon in your training arsenal. They also help you to relax and feel physically and psychologically better, benefits that even the non-athlete would enjoy,” Frey writes.
