Sports Massage

Beryl Rattray
Clare Heal

James Ogle

Jason Hyam
Louise Body

About Sports Massage:

Sports Massage is the manipulation and rehabilitation of the soft tissues of the body including the tendons, ligaments and muscles.

The benefits of Sports Massage include:

Improve circulation, assisting the removal of metabolic waste, increasing or decreasing muscle tone and length, remodelling scar tissue and assisting mental preparation for sporting participation

To benefit from a sports massage you do not NEED to be a sports performer or athlete of any kind. The benefits above can also help relieve many day to day problems that anyone can experience. Depending on the type and timing of activity these benefits can be achieved for anyone in any walk of life.

If, however, you are a sports performer, of any level, a sports specific massage can be beneficial at almost any stage of participation. Such as: The training phase, Pre, inter and post competition, Post travel, Injury prevention and recovery.

Sports massage may benefit you regardless of your experience level in sport or exercise or whether you exercise socially or compete to an international level.

Members of the Sports Massage Association are able identify any individual for who sports massage would be ill-advised or detrimental to their well being. All SMA practitioners will assess each individual and provide the appropriate massage techniques and/or advise on alternative action if required.

A typical massage based on the theme of relaxation would generally follow the lines of long, gentle movements to warm up the skin and muscles to start with, then moving on to applying more pressure as the muscle becomes accustomed to the pressure. From there, the practitioner would generally follow the route of addressing any areas of tension or tightness in the muscles and applying pressure to the area to help the muscle relax.

For more specific problems or sport specific issues, the individual would be assessed regarding their wants and what would be considered best by both the athlete and the masseur.