3 Ways Athletes Can Benefit from Massage Therapy

There are different types of massage which are specific to the athlete’s sport of choice. Here are 3 ways athletes can benefit from massage therapy, such as: increase relaxation, increase flexibility and promotes better sleep patterns.

Increase Relaxation
Many athletes are used to living a life of constant movement and activity. This means athletes often have a difficult time relaxing, leaving stress at the forefront of their day-to-day lives. Without sufficient downtime to relax from stress, athletes’ performance and overall health can suffer. Massage therapy helps to calm the mind and body. It also promotes healthy sleep patterns, allowing athletes a deep and restful sleep to recuperate and rest for their highest level of performance yet. Source: MassageHeights

Increases Flexibility
A common perception held by athletes and coaches is that adequate flexibility will decrease the risk of injury and enhance performance. While these claims may be debatable (and beyond the scope of this paper), massage has been investigated as a strategy to increase range of motion.

While it appears that some athletes may experience improvements in hamstring flexibility after one massage, these changes appear to be transient. If a short term goal is to increase an athlete’s flexibility, more efficient methods may exist (especially in the absence of an adequately staffed sports medicine team). Future research should investigate which athletes are ideal candidates for massage intervention, how long each massage intervention should be performed, and what duration is necessary to establish permanent flexibility changes. Source: NCBI

Promotes Better Sleep Patterns
Massage therapy promotes better sleep patterns. By getting regular massages, an athlete can actually improve the quantity and quality of sleep he is getting. By getting more sound sleep, the athlete is better able to perform at an optimal level. Source: SpeedEndurance

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