Prevent injury, improve performance, relieve sore stiff muscles, speed recovery, reduce stress and more. These claims have all been touted as benefits to athletes who receive regular sports massage. Since it is human nature for most of us to want to know how and why things work, this missive will briefly discuss why Sports Massage is so beneficial for you as an athlete and what impact massage has on the physiology of the human body.

Athletes are constantly asking their body to perform at maximum assertion levels. A short explanation of the mechanics of muscle movement and cellular function is necessary to understand how exercise stresses our body and how massage can replenish and speed recovery of those physical stresses.

Muscles used in athletics, or skeletal muscles, move on command. A healthy functioning muscle will contract with enough stimulation from the central nervous system, then automatically relax and release tension. Muscle strength comes from the size of the muscle plus its ability to contract. Muscle power comes from the degree of movement that the contraction makes. There is always some contraction happening in firmed, toned muscle fibers. However, if the relaxing muscles do not stretch to their fullest extent, or, they become slow to stretch do to residual contraction(STIFFNESS), there is increased resistance, resulting in reduced power and therefore reduced performance levels.

Muscle cells need optimum glycogen fuel and oxygen to produce energy for contraction. If we exercise our muscles strenuously for a long time, muscle fatigue occurs. A muscle is fatigued when it is unable to contract even though we are sending it messages to do so. Fuel and oxygen are supplied to the muscles via fresh blood supply and used in energy production. As muscles perform at maximum exertion levels, cellular fuel glycogen and oxygen supplies deplete forming waste products, including lactic acid. This produces muscle fatigue and muscle soreness.

Muscles with ample blood supply and maximum relaxation capabilities perform at peak power and efficiency. The physiological power of massage comes from the rapid and fresh exchange of blood and lymph that massage causes, and the ability to realign muscles that are shortened from use or in a state of spasm from overuse.  Regular sports massage restores the length and suppleness of muscles that become tight and tense from physical exertion. Additionally, micro tears in muscle form training heal faster because massage aids circulation of blood and nutrients and enables our body to adapt to increased workloads. Improved circulation removes waste at a faster rate and brings in fres, oxygenated blood. One scientific study showed that 10 minutes of deep stroking and rubbing of a calf doubled the blood few tot hat area for than 40 minutes. Ten minutes of exercise increased (not doubled) the blood few for only 10 minutes.

How Massage Benefits Common Sports Concerns:

Adhesions are formed when loose collagen fascia that covers and protects each muscle and muscle cell, become stiff and stice together, confining muscle movement. Deep tissue massage and skin rolling techniques work to warm up and release the fascia that has confined muscle movement.

Inflammation is a signal that injury has occurred. Cells damaged are under stress and accumulate as much intracellular fluid as possible, Cells b become plump and begin to bump into each other to buffer against further damage. This process expands and beings to overheat. With rest, your body will eventually flush oth the waste products. Massage with ice speeds up the recovery process by cooling the inflamed area and decreasing local circulation, relieving hte discomfort. After the ice is removed, normal circulation resumes, allowing fresh blood to cleanse the area of waste products.

Fibrosis presents as a sore muscle that is swollen or lumpy, or knotted. This spasm occurs when fatigued muscles tangle and remain contracted from glycogen/oxygen loss and lactic acid buildup. This condition diminishes or eliminates normal movement of the muscle fibers. Fibrosis is likely to occur at the end of muscles, where the fibers are not use so much and have less elasticity. Untreated, these knots have a way of spreading, moving up the muscle fiber until the muscle is seriously shortened....making it susceptible to tears and pulls...even with normal use. Although spasm is a protective contraction, it also reduces blood flow to and area, which, in turn, reduces the flow of oxygen and nutrients and prevents the area from casting off waste products. For full power and total mobility a muscle fiber must be allowed to function independently. Deep Tissue and Cross Fiber Massage can spread the tissue, smooth out knots, and increase blood flow to an area in need, temporarily interrupt involuntary electronic impulses that create tiny spasms that causes the "knots" and undo the harmful effects of fibrosis.

Scar Tissue: Sometimes a muscle shortened by spasm becomes torn, or a healthy muscle can be stretched beyond its range of motion and a tear in the muscle fiber or sounding fascia can result. The healing cells that are laid down are granular collagen tissue (scar tissue) rather than muscle tissue. The scar can be a source of discomfort, creating a cycle of pain, spasm and swelling. Repeated Deep Tissue Massage aligns the cells of the scar tissue with the surrounding area. It gets rid of the rough edges of other muscles and will create fluid circulation inside the scar tissue to keep it soft. The result of this is improved muscle movement, a decrease in muscle tension and of course, more enjoyable training.

While massage is a wonderful performance optimizer, some strokes can be detrimental to performance by interfering with the natural function of muscle physiology. The following are a  list of massage stroke recommendations to receive at different intervals of your training and performance cycle.