Q. What are the benefits of Sports Massage?
Here are several key benefits of Sports massage:
- Periodic sports massage can keep your body in better condition: The less muscle tension the more relaxed your muscles are, the better flexibility and strength you will have. Maintaining proper muscle tone is important in preventing injury.
- Sports massage can help resolve old injuries: Some injuries heal on the their own, but many require treatment to return proper functioning of the muscle groups. Over time, old injuries can lead to imbalances in your body causing further problems as you compensate and overuse other muscles.
- Sports massage can enhance your ability to recover from training: By healing faster, you can rejuvenate your body and keep strong. Physical manipulation can often do more for your body than just stretching and the latest supplements or nutritional fads.
- Sports massage can help you stay active longer: Keeping your body in good condition will keep you performing longer at peak performance. Sports massage can help you recover faster and speed up the healing time for injuries.
- Sports massage can help you relax: Even though the focus is on athletic performance, sports massage can still help you relax and unwind from the stresses of daily life.
Q. Who can benefit from Sports Massage?
A. Everyone can benefit from any of the treatments offered at Balanced Bodyworks of LA. You don’t have to be a top athlete to have a sports massage. Office workers with stiff necks to people suffering from low back pain or runners with knee problems can benefit from sports massage.
Proven benefits of Sports Massage: enhance athletic performance, faster recovery from workouts, fewer injuries and faster recovery from injury, restore flexibility and range of motion, remove lactic acid buildup, extend the overall life of your athletic career, reduce stress, and maintaining body and mind in better condition.
Q. Will Sports Massage help my injury?
A. Yes. Sports massage is proven to reduce recovery time by shortening the time it takes for injuries to heal. Sports Massage brings new blood to the affected areas and promotes the self healing process of the body. After a serious injury, Sports Massage helps form strong functional scar tissue instead of the usual random restricting scar tissue, so that range of motion and tissue mobility are maintained.
Q. How long is treatment?
A. The time will depend on the particular issue or injury and your preference, but generally sessions range between 60 mins and 90 mins.
Q. What will I expect from a treatment?
A. On the first visit clients are asked a number of questions concerning general well-being, injuries and medical conditions that the therapist should know about, in order to determine if there are any contra-indications (physical conditions that would prohibit or limit a massage treatment). The client is asked to undress, to the client’s level of comfort/modesty, and to lie on the treatment table under a sheet (draping). During the session, the therapist will utilize the draping to expose only those parts of the body to which treatment is being applied. No body part or area will be massaged without the client’s permission. The therapist will tailor a massage session specifically to your needs.
Q. Is it painful?
A. Sports Massage can be a little uncomfortable as the therapist uses deep slow strokes with pressure to release the tension in the muscles. Sometimes individuals develop knots or trigger points that require stronger bodywork and may cause discomfort. If this is the case, the therapist communicates with the client about their pain level, working together to make the session as productive as possible, and as pain free as can be. At Balanced Bodyworks of LA you will never be taken beyond your limit.
Q. Do I need a doctors permission?
A. Not usually, however certain medical conditions could be adversely affected by massage, this will be discussed at the initial consultation. However, you should always consult with your Doctor if there are any concerns about your medical condition.
Q. What Should I Wear?
A. As a rule and depending on treatment, shorts and t-shirt are usually handy. You will be properly draped at all times to keep you warm and comfortable. Only the area being worked on will be exposed . Most massage techniques are traditionally performed with the client unclothed, however you decide what amount of clothing you prefer to wear for your own comfort. The most important thing is, that you will be able to relax. We will leave the room while you undress, relax onto the table and cover yourself with a clean sheet.
Q. What are the side effects of massage?
A. It’s typical to be sore for several days after a deep Sports Massage. After a sports massage, you may feel sleepy, sometimes light headed, and sore. We suggest you drink plenty of water after your treatment and refrain from doing anything too energetic or physical for the rest of that day. Regular massage promotes deeper and more restful sleep at night and produces greater energy during the day. There are also benefits for circulation and improvements in the efficiency of the lymphatic system, which helps rid the body of toxins and general sluggishness.
Q. What about children?
A. If a client is under 18 they must be accompanied by an adult and a consent form must be signed by an adult.
Q. How often should I get a Sports Massage?
A. That will depend on factors such as training volume and intensity, and if you have any chronic pain or acute injury, and other factors. For some athletes, a weekly massage gives huge benefits. Other athletes will receive an occasional Sports Massage if they’re in pain or to address certain issues. The decision is always up to you as you.
Q. Why Yoga?
Combining a customized yoga routine with your training exponentially increases opportunities for growth in sports and optimal pain free living. The addition of yoga will create better breathing techniques while improving balance, flexibility, core strength, range of motion and endurance. Your custom routine may address certain muscle groups such as hips, shoulders or legs or it may enhance specific skills like balancing or twisting. A consistent yoga practice also helps to integrate the mind-body connection, fine tuning concentration, focus, intuition and response time.
Cross training is essential for athletes who enjoy the same sport year-round and yoga is a low-impact, calorie burning, tension relieving way to do so. Adding new movements and ways to stretch not only adds variety to your regular training program but also helps prevent injury.
In addition to improved athletic performance, studies reported by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health have linked yoga practice with decreased low back pain, less reported chronic pain from arthritis, headaches, and carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as lower blood pressure, heart, breathing rates, and reduced insomnia.
Benefits of Yoga for Athletes and Fitness Enthusiasts
1. Develop Deep, Relaxed Breathing
If you participate competitively in sport or simply join the occasional fun run on a whim you are aware of the impact breathing can have on performance. Deep, relaxed breathing is the foundation of reducing performance anxiety and improving concentration. Yoga will help you develop a habit of breathing correctly while strengthening your diaphragm. Yoga practice integrations the mind-body connection and athletes can benefit from this combination of skills training.
2. Increase Core Strength
Yoga poses are all about building core strength. The fluid, focused movements require a strong mid-section and the isometric contractions of many exercises will add a new form of resistance training to your typical machine-based workouts.
3. Increase Flexibility and Range of Motion
Yoga routines incorporate slow, steady flexibility exercises ideal for athletes. Frequent yoga training increases flexibility and range of motion while relieving muscle tension. Whether you are a runner or a golfer, improved range of motion can help improve performance.
4. Improve Balance
Yoga is a perfect way to incorporate balance exercises into your training routine. Balance exercises are often overlooked by athletes, but are one of the most effective ways to correct muscle imbalance or body mechanic problems. With most sports and weight training routines you tend to perform repetitive motions that develop some muscle groups while others are ignored. Yoga can fix these imbalances.
5.Cross Training
Yoga is a great low-impact way to cross train. Cross training is necessary for athletes who do the same sport or exercise routine year-round. Adding new exercises can help reduce injury, relieve training boredom, add variety and help recover from hard aerobic or strength workouts. Yoga can be done at a high or low intensity and there are hundreds of postures that can provide a workout for any athletic need.
6. Something for Everyone
There are many styles of yoga that range from very dynamic, active, movements that go from one posture to another (and result in a thorough aerobic workout) to more slow-paced practices that hold postures for several minutes and form an intense strength training and balance workout.
Q. The therapists at BB of LA are all athletic. Why is this important?
A. It’s important that the therapists at Balanced Bodyworks of LA are also athletic because it gives them an understanding of the activities and issues that you, the athlete, are facing. It only makes sense that you receive a Sports Massage from someone who is as active as yourself. Here at Balanced Bodyworks of LA we understand what IT band issues and shin splints feel like. When a triathlete comes to us and says “my legs are dead” we know exactly how they feel and how to tailor the session to their needs.
