Discovering the benefits of sports massage

It might be because I’m getting older, or because I’m training more and resting less or even because I’m running further and faster than I’ve ever ran, but I’m currently carrying several injuries, and they just don’t seem to be getting any better.

In fact, having rested for nearly 3 weeks and with a 33 mile run planned for this weekend, followed by the Lakeland 100 three weeks later, its got to the extend that i’m having to consider more drastic measures…

To be honest, I’ve always been a bit old fashioned when it comes to doctors and medical stuff, avoiding doing anything about injuries until they becomes pretty unbearable. When I suffer an injury, I tend to adopt one of two approaches, either grin and bear it, hoping to ‘run through it’ or opt for ‘complete rest’,  avoiding any running altogether for a couple of weeks.

So yesterday it felt a bit out of character, to find myself in the reception of Physio Plus in High Heaton asking to see a lady by the name of Kate. Kate is a Sports and Remedial Massage Therapist, with a whole stack of letters after her name, that I’m assume means she is something of an expert in the field.

As I stood filling in a forms authorising them to perform whatever treatment might be required, I really wasn’t at all sure what to expect or how quickly I’d see any results, but Kate seemed quite nice and she looked like she knew what she was doing as she led the way to a treatment room.

We briefly sat down and discussed what sort of sports I did, and the problems I’d been having as Kate scribbled down some notes, I watched as the page started to fill up and it began to dawn on me that this treatment might be just a little overdue.

When the talking was done, Kate asked me to take off my shoes, socks and trousers and to lie on the table. After applying some cream that felt a lot like sun tan cream, Kate initially checked the overall condition of my muscles, before moving on to concentrating on my calfs. She trace the outlines of individual muscle that I hadn’t previously even been able to distinguish a difference between, first moving her hands one way then another. At times it seemed that the there was no order at all in the mass of muscles in my lower legs, but as I lay face down on the treatment table and Kate continued to manipulate each of these tiny little areas, I could start to feel the direction of the different muscle fibres, like grain in wood and it began to make sense.

Different pressure was applied. in different ways, to different areas, each stroke evoking different feelings,  some were quite relaxing while other were a little less comfortable,  quite a few lot of which involved feelings of heat or burning. Some of this heat was friction caused by the movement, but some of it was caused by blood flowing deep within the muscles. Kate told me that some of what she was doing was deliberately causing inflammation, in order to encourage blood flow not only to aid repair to the muscles but also to take away some of the toxins that had build up there.

After concentrating most of the session on the right calf that had been causing most of my problems, I turned over and Kate worked on my quads for a bit, as they were also apparently a little tight. I could still feel were my calfs had been worked, and I half expected that when I stood up  to leave, I was going to end up a jelly legged mess on the floor. To my relief I did manage to make it to my feet after the session, though it feel more like I’d ran a marathon than i’d spent an hour lying around. It wasn’t until i’d got half way down the street outside that I realised that by achilles was moving smoothly and fluidly without the slightest bit of discomfort or tightness, something it hadn’t done for a quite a while.

It’s a little early to say just how effective my first sports massage has been, or how long the results might last, but I think the chances are I’ll be back for more, and at this stage I can’t recommend Kate or Physio Plus highly enough, for those of you that are interested they are based in High Heaton, charge £35 an hour, and can be contacted on 0191 281 2021.

www.physioplusclinic.co.uk
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3 Responses to Discovering the benefits of sports massage

  1. David says:

    Its good to see you’ve had so much benifit, I’ve personally always found sports massage is temporary, but I guess thats because I never stop doing whatever messes my muscles up!

  2. Naomi says:

    With regards to your comment David it may be worth having someone such as a sports massage therapist assess your posture as there maybe a structural reason why your muscles are suffering. Unfortunately once a muscle is injured it can be easily torn again and this will lead to a build up in scar tissue which in turn cause the muscles to feel tight and shorten.
    As i am sure you are aware stretching is a key element of fitness which is why many professional sports people take part in activities such as pilates and yoga.
    Another problem to consider is your foot wear and whether it is supportive enough.
    Generally a good sports massage therapist will cover all of these points when you visit them, as they should be trying to assess your body as a whole.

  3. Get a good Massage. It helps fight stress and renews our body, recharge and get back to shape for another round of work.