For whom is sports massage intended?

Sports massage is a regular item on every athlete's preparation programme. It prevents soreness in the athlete's body, strains muscles, regenerates the body faster after exertion, prepares it better for competitions and heals injuries better. Although it has several types, it mainly refers to classical massage. 

Thus, there is stroking at the beginning and at the end of the massage, rubbing, squeezing, kneading, patting the body, but vigorously and with much more force than in the case of massage for people who do not undertake strenuous efforts.

We must realise that a sports massage is not a relaxing treatment - it can be painful and unpleasant. It is also important to note that its purpose is part of an athlete's training programme. 

A sports massage is similar to an isometric massage - it restores muscle strength and mass, regenerates them, improves lymph circulation and oxygenates the skin.

It is worth remembering that during a sports massage, we focus most on three parts that are usually prone to injury, mainly in runners. These are the calves - an area that is responsible for lifting the entire weight of the body and propelling it. Next are the hip flexors, which enable the legs to lift, and the gluteus medius muscle - the thigh's inversion.

We can distinguish between different types of sports massage :

Sustaining sports massage - performed during breaks in competition - at the extremes of the season, when training intensity is lower. The purpose of this massage is to keep the nervous system, cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal system in good working order during periods of physical activity. The sports maintenance massage lasts about 45 minutes and is applied daily or every two days. It ensures that the muscles are well oxygenated and toxins are removed from the body more quickly. The sustaining sports massage is the gentlest type of sports massage, and every element of the classic massage is applied during its performance.

A starter sports massage that warms up the muscles and ligament-articular apparatus very quickly, allowing the muscles to retain their contractile capacity and the ligaments to remain flexible. The starter massage must be quick, as it is performed a few minutes before the warm-up. It should not take more than 10 minutes. It will be effective if it is followed by physical exercise. During a starting massage, the body or parts of the body are stroked, rubbed and kneaded.

Pre-exercise sports massage, which is performed from the day after the last training massage until the start again. It is demanding on the masseur. Its aim is to prepare the athlete as well as possible for competition, and this can be accompanied by negative psychological factors. A sports massage relaxes the muscles and gives strength to perform.

Post-workout sports massage, which is used immediately after training, competitions, but also in between competitions. Post-workout sports massage helps to restore the athlete's body to its pre-exercise form as quickly as possible, it has a much stronger effect on passive rest after physical activity. If the exertion was not too intense, the massage is performed about 30 minutes after the exercise, generally after a shower. If the physical activity was more intense, the athlete is massaged slightly later. The masseur mainly kneads and rubs the neck and shoulders. A post-exercise sports massage lasts several minutes.

Sports massage - effects - strengthens the musculoskeletal system before exercise and reduces the effects of fatigue immediately afterwards. It improves the circulation of lymph and blood, so that nutrients travel faster to the muscles. These, in turn, are warmed up and relaxed more intensively through sports massage. Sports massage improves the metabolism, allows the athlete to gain calm, reduces stress and its symptoms: constipation, diarrhoea. Sports massage also reduces the risk of injury. It enables the elimination of post-exercise fatigue and soreness in the muscles.
 
Sports massage - indications and contraindications - is carried out for professional athletes, but it is also increasingly used by amateurs. In the case of the latter, as they are rarely under the constant care of a doctor, it is worth consulting them about the massage. Sports massage should only be performed to enhance physical activity, so people who do not perform this type of movement should not benefit from it. So should patients with cardiovascular disease, cancer and pregnant women.