Sporting teams and athletes know the benefit of incorporating massage into their training schedule as a key part of their optimal health, functioning and performance. Whether you are a high-performance athlete or exercising for day-to-day fitness, regular massage is a valuable tool for getting the most out of your workout and recovery.
MASSAGE PRE-WORKOUT
Warm-up:Experts recommend that any massage before exercise should be gentle and relaxing. It will warm up your muscles and improve your flexibility by gently stretching your body.
Release tension: Massage helps to release stress and tension from your body which can help to prevent any restriction or soreness during your workout.
Reduce risk of injury: Warming your muscles up and releasing tightness before your workout helps to reduce the chance of injury.
Workout at optimum range: Getting you back in touch with your body will help to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from your workout, so you can perform at the optimum range for your body, not going too easy on yourself or pushing too hard and overdoing it.
Ideal massage program: For an effective massage pre-workout, an ideal program is a full body massage program, such as the Dynamic program on the inTouch Smart Glide, which relieves tension and warms your body, ready to work out.
MASSAGE POST-WORKOUT
Post-workout massage can be more vigorous as you aim to really work into your muscles and speed up recovery time. Recovering in a massage chair is perfect after the gym or training.
Reduce DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is the muscle soreness that you feel after a workout. You can feel pain, discomfort or find it difficult to walk and move normally. Studies have proven that massage helps to reduce DOMS. In 2005, one study showed that those who received massages after working out had 30% less soreness than those who didn’t receive a massage.
Speed recovery: Massage reduces inflammation and promotes growth of new mitochondria. It increases blood circulation, improving the flow of nutrients and oxygen throughout your body to speed the recovery process.
Help the muscle repair process: As part of the muscle-building process, a solid workout causes micro tears in your muscle fibres. Massage helps to heal these tears, strengthening your muscles for your next workout.
Eliminate toxins: Research has shown that massage helps to aid the removal of waste products from your body, getting your body back to its optimum state faster.
Release lactic acid build-up: Lactic acid build-up can lead to muscle pain and soreness. Massage helps to release this lactic acid which helps to prevent muscle soreness and fatigue.
Improve performance and endurance: Studies have shown that massage can improve performance and endurance by speeding up the rate that muscles and cells utilise oxygen.
Increase speed and agility: Massage releases tension and tightness in your muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons. This helps to improve flexibility and range of motion, resulting in an increase in speed and agility.
Ideal massage program – Stretch: For a post-workout massage, an ideal program is a Stretch program which provides a recovery massage combined with effective stretching techniques.
Ideal massage technique – Deep tissue massage: A powerful technique on the Smart Glide is the targeted 3D deep tissue massage, which allows you to tailor your massage to pinpoint the areas you need it most after your workout. This deep tissue massage uses strong pressure to target the deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue. It can help to release chronic tightness and knots in your muscles, improve your range of motion, speed recovery and provide all the other benefits of an effective therapeutic sports massage.