Physical and Psychological Advantages of Sports Massage
Sports massage is a kind of massage that helps alleviate pain occurring in different parts of the body, which can be a result of the too much physical activity. The Capital Chiropractic offers the best sports massage services.
Even though this type of massage was developed basically to help athletes prevent and relieve injuries, but now both athletes and non-athletes can enjoy physiological and psychological advantages of sports massage.
Physical Advantages
Tissue Permeability
The sports massage helps in better absorption of substances within the tissues of the body. After a deep massage, the pores in your tissue membranes will open, and this will help nutrients and fluids to pass through.
This will also help your muscles to absorb nutrients and oxygen that speeds up the recovery process, and will encourage removal of waste products like lactic acid.
Relieves Muscle Tension
The sports massage helps in relieving muscle tension in the best possible way. It can lengthen the tight muscles and release the contracted ones. A deep tissue massage will affect deeper muscle tension whereas a gentle touch massage will be good for lighter kind of tension.
Reduces Swelling
A good massage can help elevate swelling in some affected regions. The blood flow gets stimulated with a massage, as the pressure used in the technique compresses then releases the blood vessels, and a regular pumping action is then enjoyed.
Owing to this, blood circulation to other limbs increases which helps in proper lymphatic drainage.
Good Stretch
A sports massage can stretch those tissues that were not being stretched by the normal methods. When forces are applied during the technique, muscle fibers can be separated, and the surrounding connective tissues can be stretched. The fibers too can be stretched in lateral as well as longitudinal directions.
Stress Reduction and Improved Well-Being
As endorphins are released and levels of stress hormones reduced during a massage, it enhances the sense of well-being. These endorphins will make you happy and help you enjoy a sense of tranquility.
This is the reason why they are known as ‘happy hormones’. The endorphin release will make athletes feel better about themselves, and this could have a positive impact on their sports performance.
Better Body Awareness
One of the biggest advantages of sports massage is that it helps improve the functioning of an athlete’s nervous system. This helps improve the awareness of their body.
If the nervous system of an athlete does not function properly, then this could also affect their performance. This can make him/her stressed, as they feel they are not able to perform the right way.
A massage will psychologically increase your awareness of how your body looks actually, instead of how you feel it looks. This can give you a more positive body image, increase your confidence levels, and thus improve your performance.