Massage to aid recovery

A snowHead

I'm currently on a fitness drive (skiing in 2 weeks) and had a massage yesterday and my aches seem to be better today
Does anyone regularly have a massage while they are away skiing and if so do you think it aids recovery? snowHead

A snowHead

Remedial massage in spas are not the same as a sports massage; one is a relaxing rub down by a therapist trained to beauty industry standards, the other is a medically recognised treatment used by all pro sportspeople, targeting specific issues, that actually works.. Just don't expect it to be relaxing
Ps, I'm married to the latter!
No harm in a relaxing rub down, btw.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@cstreat, do not ignore the placebo effect of a massage.

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Hence my last comment; however it can do nothing for actual injuries, and training involves micro tears of muscle fibres

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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I’ve always felt that massages, including sports massages, are ‘nice to have’, but never felt they actually make a blind bit of difference to anything.

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I find proper sports massage very effective and more so the older I get (50 this year).

I see a lady regularly every 2 wks.

She has also shown me how to do proper self massage on calls, IT hand etc.... that I can do in a hot bath or shower after skiing, followed by cold shower on legs and Ibu gel / cold cream. The supermarket "cold relief" is far better than the branded freeze creams IMHO.

Works for me and is now a regular part of my pre season prep and post ski ritual.

The hard foam rollers and balls are also very good, again IMHO.

After all it is free

Massages are a waste of time. (Unless a pretty lady gives you a happy ending to round it off).

Certainly works, elite sportsman will have one regularly, ie TdF riders after every stage.

I tend to have problems with tight muscles. As I ski up to 100 days each winter and hike and cycle in summer I need to stretch etc regularly. I still get issues and my physio in UK (ex Peterborough Utd and England Hockey) gives me a good pounding which hurts like hell but works wonders. There is a good kine (physio) here who I might try. I also use foam rollers perhaps weekly.

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Physical Therapy / Myofascial Release / Trigger Point Therapy are all good - especially if you are active. They can be pretty painful, though. If like me, it was 45 years before anybody got stuck in, then there is a lot of scare tissue and knots to get through.

IMO. It is vital to see someone at least once or twice a year, especially if you are very active. eg. Runners need to keep their Iliopsoas loose. Piriformis and IT band are other trouble spots.

IME. Get to know your own trouble spots and learn how to free them....Tennis balls and Trigger Point foam rollers are great.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Look into neurotrack ems/tens machine.
There are recovery mode settings.
The idea is to get amino acids (might be dome other chemical)out of your muscles to reduce tiredness

snow reports

thanks all for the responses - I'm 50+ and see the benefit now - I must say when I was younger I would have been sceptical but you recover quicker when you are younger. I personally think it would be beneficial and I will look while I am away this year - I would rather spend an hour with a lady having a massage than an hour in the crazy kangeroo nowadays Razz

@Johnor, as a keen cyclist i go to a proper Sports masseur every 6/8 weeks and yes it does help.

The thing you'll need to be wary of in resort is there's a massive difference between a sports massage done by a sports masseur and one done by a beauty therapist.

You know it makes sense.

I was in Prague the other day and saw a number of massage places including some advertising Thai massages. I saw some people having Thai massage in Thailand and it looked pretty close to GBH to me. Are they actually any good?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I don't personally think they "aid recovery", but it depends what you're trying to recover from. Me, it's basically DOMS, which is a three-day start-of-season issue. Massage stops the pain immediately for me, but it comes back the next day. Ibuprofen and beer is cheaper and less hassle. I still have a massage now and then, but just for the fun of it

Many heli-skiers have massages every day. Those are "sports massages"; they're intended to be fairly strong.

A snowHead

Being controversial I think generally a man gives a much better sports massage, all down to strength. My ex wife is a trained masseuse (Inc sports) but sent me elsewhere when I was having muscular problems in my back as she couldn't get deep enough into the muscles.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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As someone who has been a trained Sports Massage therapist for 14 years this is all interesting reading! To be honest there is very little conclusive research as to the benefits of Sports Massage. There I said it. However, I wouldn't have much of a business if it didn't do anything right? The key is to release the muscles that are causing the muscles that are complaining to release off - before releasing the offending muscles. Makes for a better longer lasting effect. As a rule if you find Sports Massage beneficial then go for it. If you don't, then don't.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

As for massaging a fresh injury it can go one of two ways! If a muscle goes twang a Massage therapist shouldn't go deep into it for about 2 weeks or so. Although some superficial work may alleviate some of the pain. If they have the right knowledge they can release muscles that will have an impact on the damaged muscles to give symptomatic relief without fear of aggravating the damaged tissue.

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Massage to aid recovery

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