Sports Massage Tulsa is a great way to stimulate the muscles, release tension and prevent injuries. It also improves sleep, which is critical for muscle recovery.
Effleurage is used early in the massage to help warm up the muscle tissues. It includes strokes that push blood toward the heart to increase venous flow.
A significant physiological effect of sports massage is improved circulation. This is mainly due to the increase in the number of functional blood vessels in an area of muscle, which increases the amount of oxygen and nutrients available for the muscle tissue. As a result, the muscle can function better and is at lower risk of injury.
This increased blood flow also helps to alleviate pain, as it carries away waste products (such as lactic and pyruvic acids) from the muscle, which cause the feeling of soreness after exercise. It also helps to slow down the body’s natural production of inflammatory chemicals, which can damage muscle tissues and lead to injury.
Another important effect is the increased lymphatic drainage. This happens because the therapist will use techniques such as wringing, friction and stretching to create more movement within the tissue structures. This allows the muscles, ligaments and tendons to work properly.
In addition, the rubbing action of sports massage stimulates the sensory nerve endings in the skin. These trigger a reflex that blocks the transmission of pain signals from the brain to the spinal cord, which also has an analgesic effect.
Anyone can benefit from a sports massage, whether you are a professional athlete who is trying to improve your performance or a beginner who wants to get the most out of your body. It is important to manage the impact of pushing your body physically by allowing it to recover, and a sports massage will help you do just that. Not to mention, it will reduce the chances of injury so you can keep training and increasing your strength and endurance!
Increased Lymphatic Drainage
Whether you’re a beginner or a professional athlete, you need to take care of your body and help it recover from physical exertion. Otherwise, your muscles will become tight and stiff which reduces your performance and increases the likelihood of injury. This is where a sports massage comes in handy as it can remove cellular waste, alleviate aches and accelerates your recovery process.
In addition to the effleurage strokes that increase blood flow, there are deep techniques such as Friction that can also improve circulation by breaking down adhesions. Adhesions are created during the inflammatory healing process and they can cause your muscles, ligaments and tendons to stick together rather than moving as they should.
This can cause pain, limited movement and slow muscle recovery. A massage helps break down the adhesions and restores normal movement to muscles, ligaments and tendons. The deep friction of a sports massage technique like Friction encourages tissue structures to loosen and free, allowing the muscles to function normally once again.
Another physiological effect of a sports massage is increased lymphatic drainage. The lymphatic system is the immune system’s transport system, it carries nutrients and waste to cells in your body and flushes out toxins. Lymphatic drainage massage increases the flow of lymph through your body which helps flush out toxins and waste products that build up after exercise.
As a result of increased lymph flow, your body may experience a temporary increase in urination and bowel movements as it eliminates the excess fluid. However, these changes are a good thing and they indicate that your body is getting rid of the waste products from the workout you just had.
Increased Endurance
Athletes, both amateur and professional, seek sports massage to enhance their sporting performance. This is because it promotes flexibility, which in turn reduces the risk of injury. It also helps muscles to contract and relax more efficiently, improving agility and overall performance.
It is important to understand that a sports massage is not just about relieving the muscles of tightness, it also assists in breaking down and removing scar tissue, which is detrimental to performance. It focuses on the soft tissues of the body, including muscle, ligament and tendons. It uses different techniques to assess the bio-mechanical imbalances and provides treatments to rebalance these imbalances. This increases the range of motion of your joints, improves tendons and ligaments and breaks down scar tissue, thus reducing the chance of injury.
The kneading movements used in a sports massage can stimulate the tissue and increase blood flow. This enables your muscles to get the oxygen they need and reduces the build up of lactic acid, which is what causes those delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) symptoms we all hate!
Studies have shown that massage increases the number of mitochondria in skeletal muscle. These mitochondria help to convert minerals and nutrients, such as oxygen into essential energy for the body. This increase in the rate of mitochondrial cells improves muscular endurance and athletic performance as it allows your muscles to work longer without becoming fatigued.
Another physiological response to sports massage is increased lymphatic drainage. As mentioned earlier, after exercise waste products like lactic acid and pyruvic acids build up in the muscle tissue. This can cause pain and stiffness and interferes with recovery. Massage flushes these substances out of the muscle, easing pain and stiffness and allowing you to train harder, which ultimately raises your sporting performance!
Increased Flexibility
One of the most important benefits of sports massage is increased flexibility. This occurs as a result of techniques like friction, Petrissage, and myofascial release that break down muscle adhesions and stretch the muscles. Friction is an intense massage technique that uses the thumb and fingers to rub against muscle fibres in a back and forth motion. This releases tension and adhesions and improves circulation. It is also a great technique for increasing muscle elasticity and stretching the muscle to its full length.
Another way to increase flexibility is through the use of Petrissage techniques which include wringing and rolling. This stretches the fascia compartments and muscle fibres. It also increases the elasticity of the muscle by loosening up knots and adhesions. The stretches and compression techniques in sports massage promote joint flexibility by lubricating the cartilage and flushing it free of toxins. This allows the joints to move more freely and reduces the risk of injury.
Regularly scheduled sports massages help athletes to achieve optimal performance levels both during practice sessions and during competitions. In addition, the physical benefits of sports massages are complemented by invaluable mental benefits such as a reduction in stress levels leading to improved focus.
Sports Massages are especially beneficial in the weeks and days preceding an event or competition. These pre-event sessions remove cellular waste and alleviate aching muscles. They can also decrease the amount of time it takes to recover from an event by speeding up the removal of lactic acid and other metabolic wastes. The massage also helps warm up the muscle fibres, ligaments and tendons so they contract more efficiently and are less prone to strains and sprains.
Improved Sleep
Athletes can benefit from the improved sleep that occurs during a massage. The reason is that a sports massage uses a combination of techniques such as hacking and friction, which help to break down adhesions within the muscle tissues. These adhesions are formed during the inflammatory healing process and can result in muscle tightness, restricted range of motion, and decreased flexibility. During a massage, these adhesions are broken down to create more movement in the muscles which can improve blood circulation and reduce inflammation.
Athletes who engage in intense training and competitions require rapid recovery to avoid injury and prepare for the next event. During sports massage, lactic acid and other metabolic waste are reduced to speed up the recovery process. In addition, sports massage can also improve flexibility and reduce muscle fatigue.
The psychological effects of a sports massage are significant as well. Athletes experience a decrease in the levels of cortisol, which is a stress hormone, and an improvement in their mood. This results in a more positive outlook on life and a better quality of sleep.
While athletes are the ones that reap the most benefits from a sports massage, it is not exclusive to them. As the world gets fitter and more active at a younger age, everyone can benefit from the preventative and restorative aspects of this type of massage. As a result, the population is becoming fitter and healthier for longer periods of time than previous generations. Therefore, it is important for people to consider the advantages of regular sports massage as part of their lifestyle.