SPORTS MASSAGE

What is sports Massage?

Lisa Rogers

Photo courtesy of MassageNerd.Com

Certified Massage Therapist, Holistic Health Practitioner

Sports Massage is not just for professional athletes.  Do you jog, lift weights, bowl?  All physical activities use muscles.  In fact, the simple act of drinking your morning coffee or brushing your teeth requires the use of many different muscles.  Consider what you are doing when you drink your coffee. Perhaps you are reading the newspaper. You remove your hand from the paper and reach over to pick up your coffee; this uses more muscles than you may realize.  You use several muscles in your arm, hand, fingers, neck and even perhaps abdominal muscles (to stabilize the body during these movements).  This was all before you even brought the coffee up towards your mouth!  If that simple movement can involve so many muscles, imagine what jogging must use!  I’m sure you can imagine how overworked your muscles can be after any kind of exercise, and Sports Massage is customized based on your sport of choice.  If you play volleyball, you may need to have different muscles worked, and a different technique may be indicated for a wrestler or a long distance runner.  Your therapist will personalize the entire session to you and your given needs. 


Sports Massage is a great way to help prevent injury.  Massage can assist with muscle flexibility and range of motion which is important not only in sports, but in each and every person.  When muscles are tight they are more apt to be pulled or torn. Individuals who participate in strength training, spend a lot of time building muscle and it is important that they also include activities to maintain flexibility and range of motion. 


Unfortunately, there is one group of athletes who, much too often, miss out on the incredible benefits of massage.  These are High School athletes.  Highs school students are going through so many changes during these four years. Massage can be beneficial to all high school students and especially to the athlete.  Consider the football player, this player is knocked around considerably during the game which is likely to cause pain and inflammation. But, this is not the only time they are subject to injury.  Football players, as well as all other High School athletes train hard.  They get up early for training and get home late from games.  They have homework and class work and at some point try to fit in a social life.  Let’s face it, they are over worked and their muscles feel it!  Massage is a great way to help keep their muscles moving freely, prevent injury and assist with the healing of any injuries they may have, and massage can even help them get better, deeper sleep. 


Take a moment to talk with your Therapist about what type of massage is best for you and don’t forget to ask about massage for your teen athletes, or any teen for that matter. During the highly stressful time of High School, anyone (including you) could use an hour to themselves, to allow the body to de-stress. 

Benefits of Sports Massage

·        Increased Flexibility and Range of Motion (both which may help to prevent sports related injuries)

·        Speeds Up Recovery Time Between Workouts

·        Speeds Up Recovery After Injury

·        Breaks Up Scar Tissue

·        Helps Bring Blood and Nutrients to Muscles and Tissues

·        Promotes Secretion of  Synovial Fluid (the fluid that surrounds and protects the joints)

·        Pain Relief

Lisa Rogers
Certified Massage Therapist, Holistic Health Practitioner

EssentialMassageAndHHP@Gmail.com

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MassageAndHolisticHealth

Massage pictures courtesy of www.massagenerd.com

On-site Chair Massage

Lisa Rogers

Certified Massage Therapist, Holistic Health Practitioner

On-Site Massage has become very popular as more and more businesses, from small offices to large corporations, become aware of the many benefits of offering 10-15 minutes to their employees and even their clients!  Many of these businesses have a standing appointment once a month, twice a month or every week.  This gives their employees something to look forward to and lets them know that their employers care! 

A quick 10-15 minute chair massage can offer more benefits than you may know about!

Stress relief is the most obvious benefit to chair massage, but there are many other benefits too, such as:

• Increased energy and stamina
• lower anxiety
• Improved energy and awareness
• lower blood pressure
• Relieve physical and emotional stress
• Boost immune system and resistance to illness
• Reduced muscle fatigue and tension

Chair Massage at your place of business can:

• Reduce stress and promote health
• Help to decrease repetitive injuries
• Reward performance
• Increase morale and company pride
• Create an atmosphere of trust and loyalty
• Reinforce the message that you value your employees health and wellbeing

Chair massage is not only offered at large corporate offices!  Some of the many different types of business 

that offer on-site massage are:

• Auto Mechanic Shops
• Construction Sites
• Medical offices
• Hospitals
• Banks
• Schools
• Auto Dealerships
• Real Estate offices
• Mortgage Companies
• Fundraisers
• Parties
• And Many, many more!

I currently offer On-site chair massage in many cities of the Inland Empire.  If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, give me a call!

Lisa Rogers

Certified Massage Therapist, Holistic Health Practitioner 

951-210-0988

Benefits of Therapeutic Massage

Massage is not just a luxury.  There are many more benefits than you may realize.  Here are just a few of the many benefits.

~LISA ROGERS

CERTIFIED MASSAGE THERAPIST, HOLISTIC HEALTH PRACTITIONER

Massage pictures courtesy of massagenerd.com

     When you think of massage, you probably think the pain you have been experiencing, or the stress you would like to relieve, would probably benefit very much from Massage Therapy!  With massage being one of the oldest healing techniques known; you can bet there are many more benefits than relief for a sore neck. 

Depression and Anxiety
In study after study, massage has been shown to reduce the stress hormone found in the body both immediately after a massage and also long term when you receive regular massages. Because both depression and anxiety can manifest in many different physical ways, as well as emotional, massage can have an impact on the whole body, mind and spirit.

Chronic Headaches
Headaches and migraines can be greatly reduced with the aid of Massage Therapy.  Headaches are often caused by tension in muscles.  A skilled therapist will know which muscles they need to access, and how to access them to bring you the greatest relief.  Your therapist may even give you stretches and exercises to try at home to facilitate quicker and long term healing. 


Increased Range of Motion
Our bodies are designed to keep going no matter what, and it will do what it has to in an effort to keep your eyes level.  Often times our range of motion is decreased and we don’t even realize it.  Have you noticed that you turn your head to back up your car and you just can’t quite look as far as you used to?  That is decreased range of motion in your neck, and it is very common.  Another common area in which we feel decreased range of motion is in the hip joint.  Most people really don’t even notice it has happened, but it can lead to severe hip pain.  Massage can greatly improve range of motion and often times completely restore your range of motion.  In any event, it is best to begin receiving regular massage as soon as possible as the body will “glue” itself to the position it thinks it is supposed to be in. 

Assist with Increased Sports Performance
Massage Therapy can improves circulation, and can reduce muscle soreness and speed up recovery rate.  Athletes can especially benefit from massage because it can help injuries heal faster by promoting blood flow and loosening muscle fibers. 

Reduced Muscle Fatigue
Because Massage can improve circulation throughout the body, many people report that they have much better workouts when receiving regular massage.  Blood brings oxygen to all your muscles, when your muscles are tight and restricting or limiting blood flow, your muscles cannot work to their full capacity. Thus, massage improves the fatigue muscles can endure.

Better Sleep
Massage has been shown to reduce sleep disturbances.  Many sleep problems are caused by stress and anxiety.  Massage has been shown to reduce stress hormone in the body and increase serotonin levels.  In addition to reducing the feeling of stress, anxiety and depression, regular massage can help you sleep better. 

Reduce or Eliminate Tingling in Hands and Fingers

Often time the tingling in your hands and fingers is caused by tight muscles in the neck and shoulder area.  A skilled Therapist may be able to relieve the pain associated with these tight muscles, and many people feel some relief instantly. 


Better Focus and Mental Clarity

Massage has been shown to greatly increase mental clarity and focus.  It has even been shown to assist with increased speed and accuracy in math computations!

These are only a few of the many benefits associated with therapeutic massage.  Contact your massage therapist and make an appointment to assess whether you would benefit from massage.

   

PRESSURE IS RELATIVE

Photo courtesy of ABMP

Communication is key!  

~Lisa Rogers
Certified Massage Therapist, Holistic Health Practitioner

The best massage sessions involve communication with your therapist.  Every single body feels things differently and many different things can contribute to the amount of pressure your body requires.

Depth is relative!

 I sometimes book “Massage Parties.”  At these “parties” one person host’s a party and invites some friends who all receive a massage at a discounted rate.  At one of these parties I arrived and passed out an intake form to each of them.  When I collected them, each one stated that they preferred a “deep pressure” massage.  One by one, the “deep pressure” clients got on the table, and one by one I adjusted my pressure from extremely light to very deep.  The point here is that while you may love deep tissue on your upper back, it may feel horrible on your lower back.  Deep tissue on your quadriceps may feel heavenly, while you may prefer lighter pressure on the calf muscles, and all of this may be different than your friend who enjoys deep tissue. 

Go ahead, I can take it! 

The amount of pressure you prefer has nothing to do with how strong you are.  I have worked on 250 Lb. body builders who did not like the same pressure as a 110 Lb. woman.  It is important to understand that tight over worked muscles may be “guarding” and therefore do not want to be touched. On muscles in this state, a medium level of pressure can feel like Hercules is working on you.  It could also be true that that a tight guarding muscle is craving deep tissue or trigger point work.  The right side of your body may require more or less pressure than the other side and it may require more or less than it did last week.  Be sure to let your therapist know what you are feeling today. 

No pain, no gain does not apply in Massage Therapy!

You may have been led to believe that massage needs to hurt in order to be effective.  This is one of the many reasons that some people refuse to try massage, they are afraid to get hurt.  Believe me, as a Therapist, I do not ever want to hurt you.  You have asked me to spend an hour (or more) to relax you or to help assist and accelerate the healing of your body and mind.  Pain is not on my list of ways to accomplish that.   This is why it is so important that you inform your therapist if there is any pain.

Adrenaline should be reserved for when the bear attacks

Although it is true that the average person will never need to run from a bear, that is what our adrenaline system is really made for. We know it as fight or flight and pain is a definite trigger. When adrenaline is released our body comes out of its healing state to allow all energy to be focused on its new task, saving our life. If you feel pain during the massage, speak up! Holding out too long may end up triggering a release of adrenaline which may negate many of the positive effects of the massage. 

Simple Ways of Expression

Discuss the use of a pain scale with your therapist.  In my practice, I use a scale of 1-10 where 1 is basically applying lotion and 10 is the worst pain imaginable.  For example, in a basic Swedish relaxation massage, we attempt to stay between 1 and 5.  When working on a deeper level, as with injuries and or chronic pain, we may employ trigger point, deep tissue and sports massage techniques in which we stay between 4 and 7. Keep in mind that a 6 or a 7 is that hurt so good feeling while and 8 would make you feel like you need to get off the table.  Once a pain scale has been discussed, you can simply call out a number.  If you say, “2” your therapist will know to apply more pressure.  If you say, “5” your therapist will know that they are approaching their limit, but can still go deeper. Calling out a 7 during a masage, will let them know they are in that “hurts so good zone, and an 8 would signal them to back off.   During a relaxing circulatory massage you can use less verbal cues and some of them may be involuntary.  It is common for a client to hold their breath or tense up when it gets too intense.  Most often your therapist will notice this and can modify the pressure or the stroke accordingly.  These are great ways of communicating without having to come out of the trance you are in.

Different Strokes

There are many different forms of massage.  Most therapeutic sessions will involve several modalities from Swedish to deep tissue and probably some trigger point.  Throughout many of these sessions the therapist may check in once or twice on their pressure and that may be all that is needed.  But, you may have a new injury which needs to be handled differently, and old injury or chronic pain which may take several sessions and much deeper work.  These are the types of sessions where you probably shouldn’t expect to fall asleep.  During very deep work you may need to be in constant communication with your therapist as this is a very interactive process. This requires you to work with your therapist to achieve maximum results.

Review

Open communication with your therapist will help ensure you have the best massage possible.  Remember that although your therapist is not a mind reader, they should be focused on your treatment and can often times read your body language to see that they are applying the right amount of pressure.  If you ever feel that you would like more or less pressure be sure to find some way to communicate that.  Your therapist won’t take it as a complaint; it won’t hurt their feelings, it will only allow them to do what they are there to do, assist in relaxation or facilitate healing.