Sports Massage to Help Muscles Recover
Athletes use muscle soreness to guide them in their training programs. Most athletes train by taking a hard workout that intentionally damages muscles enough to make them feel sore on the next day. Then the athlete takes easier workouts until the soreness goes away. When the soreness is gone, the athlete will then take a harder workout again. A 30-minute sports massage after a hard workout lessens next-day muscle soreness and allows athletes to recover faster so they can perform more work and compete at a higher level.
Most coaches and trainers recommend sports massage therapy to their athletes, but many physicians remain skeptical about its health benefits. Ongoing research continues to disprove this skepticism. Researchers at Ball State University showed that vigorous deep muscles sports massage done 21 to 29 days after severe tendon injury hastened healing. Many people suffer from pain in their muscles and tendons, and a study from Denmark showed that sports massage therapy and regular exercise help to relieve these trigger point pains, while ultrasound does not.
Nobody knows how a sports massage helps muscles recover faster. The massage does not make muscles stronger, but it has been shown that the athlete who accepts sports body massage therapy can take more frequent workouts can build stronger muscles.
Why then do some physicians still not recommend massage therapy for their patients? Times have changed and from time to time they actually do. One study from the University of Calgary shows that physicians, who may speak against massage, know least about how it is done and when to recommend it.