Massage therapy is so diverse that one may not benefit fully from it if the session isn't customised to the needs of an athlete. This article discusses some of the questions that can help a massage therapist to achieve the best results when he or she is treating you.
When Is the Treatment Being Given?
Sportsmen and women require different massage techniques for the different situations in their lives. For instance, an athlete who undergoes sports massage before a major event will have different needs from another athlete who comes for massage after a sporting event. Pre-event sports massage is usually tailored at improving blood flow, increasing the range of motion of different muscles and warming the body in readiness for the sports event. Thus, the timing of the massage will play a crucial role in helping the therapist to design a plan to help you to get the best results from that massage.
Why Is the Therapy Needed?
Massage therapists also examine the intent for which the massage has been sought. For instance, you may be feeling pain in several trigger points. Another person may be trying to regain full functionality in a limb after healing from a fracture. Those two athletes have different intentions that they would like to attain by approaching a massage therapist. Consequently, it is likely that the massage that they undergo will differ. It is therefore very important for you to communicate openly with your massage therapist before, during and after the session so that the necessary steps can be taken to give you the best results.
What Massage Technique Is Needed?
The massage therapist can quickly determine what approaches he or she should use once the timing and the intent of the sports massage session has been defined. Massage therapists have a huge array of techniques, such as deep tissue massage, that they can use to attain the set objectives of different therapy sessions. Great care is usually taken to avoid using a wrong technique during a session. For instance, it would be risky to use deep tissue massage a few hours to a major athletic competition. This is because such a technique can cause some soreness that may hinder optimum performance during the competitive event.
As you can see, a lot of thought goes into planning the massage therapy that you will undergo during your career as an athlete. You should therefore exercise great care when selecting a sports massage professional. That effort will enable you to get the expert who will help you to avoid many sports injuries. You will also recover quickly from those few injuries that you get.
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