What is sports massage used for?

Learn more about this procedure that works to repair muscle tissue.

Muscle pain is very common among athletes and can be a result of factors such as overtraining or lack of stretching, among others.

Therefore, several specific techniques and methodologies were created, which aim to improve the preparation, maintenance and recovery of athletes for sports practice. Sports massage, for example, can be a great ally in pain relief, relaxation and muscle recovery.

This practice has gained more and more importance for athletes or practitioners of regular physical activity, which is why it is already considered by many as a complementary activity to training, such as food or supplementation.

Want to know more about this procedure? Men’s Health tells you everything!

What is sports massage used for?

“Sports massage helps with muscle recovery after training or a race, relieves muscle tension and also helps in the process of reducing toxins (lactic acid) in the muscles”, explains Ana Madalena Batista, physiotherapist at OneClinics Laranjeiro.

According to the professional, it is through this massage that “the levels of oxygen in the blood return to the muscles in a normal way and effective repair of muscle tissues is carried out”.

Since sports massage facilitates muscle tissue repair, “many athletes use it to prepare before a race or workout,” she says.

Even so, this depends on the condition and objective of each athlete, so it is essential to adapt each massage to the specific case.

What happens in the body after the massage?

According to the physiotherapist, in addition to increasing blood supply and reducing toxins that form in the muscle after exercise, sports massage also “stimulates the production of adrenaline, reduces muscle fatigue and consequently increases the performance of athletes”.

Heard by Men’s Health, the professional explains that it is possible that the body feels resentment after the massage, as “there is the possibility of causing an effect contrary to the intended one, with an increase in muscle excitability”.

Additionally, and if the sports massage is poorly done, “it may not bring the desired benefits to the athlete and, consequently, aggravate an injury during the practice of exercise, not because of the massage itself, but because there was not a good preparation of the muscle” , alert.

Is it supposed to hurt?
“This massage does not necessarily have to cause discomfort, it can even bring relief”, says Ana Madalena Batista.

In case of discomfort, its duration depends on several factors, namely the “intensity of the massage, whether or not there is an injury in the area, the body’s physiological recovery mechanism and also the intensity of the training or test that the body has been through. subject”, concludes the professional.