What are your thoughts on the power of massage? I have a meet coming up next month, and was wondering if a massage would help muscle recovery. I don’t have any injuries, so that’s not the issue. I was just wondering if it would be worth my time.
If you can afford it massages always help.
yes. you can DIY with a foam roller / lacross ball, too.
i think i read somewhere that some types of massage can change your form a bit if you do it too close to a meet. so i guess it depends on what type of massage you are getting. others can prob give a more informed response though.
x2 on the foam rolling . buy the roller and it’s yours for life…or until you lose it . probably not as good as a full massage , but close when you consider the cost factor . you can foam-roll as little as a few times a week and get great results .
I got my first deep tissue massage about 2 months ago. I mainly got it out of being ridiculously tight in my lower back, hips, and glutes which was giving me two very big problems… I had a PT test that was coming up and every time I would run my lower back would start to get a large pump, pain, and become so tight that I could not move my feet in front of the other.
Also, any longer than 30 minutes of driving I would have to stop and get out because my hip and lower back would get so wound up with tightness.
Now, it should be noted I was stretching every day and was using a foam roller, and it simply was not enough. After the deep tissue, I literally felt like a new person. I even got 100% on the “sit and reach” that week at the test!!! Which has never happened in my life, I’ve always been in the 70 percentile on flexibility for those stupid Cooper standards. Also, the before mentioned problems were totally alleviated-- deep tissue for the win, I’m a believer of it.
I like the roller idea. I’m going to get one today. Also there is a place in town the gives 30 min. massages for $20, I’ve been thinking about giving it a shot.
i’d totally get ART or deep tissue massages done regularly if i could afford them. daily if i could afford them lolz. till then i do what i can with my foam roller / lacross type ball and keep looking up anatomy etc to try and help me figure out how to do things better on myself. it is a kinda cool process of self discovery, i think.
All of the American Literature leans away from it saying there is no benefit. Maybe this is why we suck in the olympics. Even if you do not have any injuries (yet) you should get it done at least an hour a month. If you have the time, 2 30 minute sessions, one lower and one upper would help drastically improve muscle tone. Not tone like getting toned. Tone like ability to contract without feeling like your crossbridges are being drug through a grilled cheese sandwich filled with broken glass.
All of the self myo fascial release and self ART is awesome but nothing compares to the hands of a skilled manual therapist.
When I have a real job I’m getting a deep-tissue massage every week.