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What is Sports Massage?

Sports Massage is a special form of massage and is typically used before, during, and after athletic events. The purpose of the massage is to prepare the athlete for peak performance, to drain away fatigue, to relieve swelling, to reduce muscle tension, to promote flexibility and to prevent injuries.

Purpose of Sports Massage

The main purpose of sports massage therapy is to help alleviate the stress and tension which builds up in the body’s soft tissues during physicalactivity. Where minor injuries and lesions occur, due to overexertion and/or overuse, massage can break them down quickly and effectively. The massage will help prepare the athlete for peak performance, to drain away fatigue, to relieve swelling, to reduce muscle tension, to promote flexibility and to prevent injuries. Sports massage can help prevent those niggling injuries that so often get in the way of performance and achievement, whether a person is an athlete or a once a week jogger.

Types of Techniques

Depending on the needs of the athlete, a variety of techniques are used. The technique often involves a blend of traditional Swedish Massage andShiatsu specifically designed to treat professional athletes.

Each type of sport has different demands on the players. Each sport uses muscle groups in a different way. Sports massage is designed to address those specific concerns and may differ according to the sport the athlete plays. Sports massage can be aimed to help heal strained muscles and allow healthy ones to reach peak performance and maintain it while minimizing the risk of injury.

Benefits of Sports Massage

Sports massage has many benefits. In addition to FEELING GOOD, sports massage reduces the heart rate and blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, reduces muscle tension, improves flexibility, and relieves pain. Each sport and athletic event uses muscle groups in a different way.

Sports Massage can also include pre-event, post-event and maintenance techniques that promote greater athletic endurance and performance, lessen chances of injury and reduce recovery time.

Reiki is a healing technique that originated in Tibet and has been practiced for over 2,500 years.

Reiki massage, developed by a Japanese Buddhist named Mikao Usui, is a type of massage therapy that focuses on transferring healing energy through the palms. This alternative medicine that many Japanese health practitioners recommend is a calm healing method that can effectively decrease pressure, alleviate pain, and induce curing.

Strictly speaking, reiki means Universal Life ForceEnergy. It is one of the more widely known forms of healing through direct application of Chi, or a force very similar to Chi.

Chi

Chi is the term used by the Chinese mystics and martial artists for the underlying force the Universe is made of.

This massage can also boot the immune system and help relive acute problems of the body. This stems from the belief that physical manifestations (such as diseases) are linked to emotional, mental, and spiritual states. This means that reiki actually seeks to treat the root cause of the problem and not just the symptoms.

Reiki massage uses principles similar to acupressure. But the difference is that this one does not require physical agility. Practitioners of this therapy use the fundamental power of the cosmos, which is channeled through the practitioner to energize body systems that can help cure different types of health problems.

This is performed with the practitioner placing his hands upon the person to be healed and then the energy will begin to flow. In other words, he will use his hands to transfer energy from the universe to his body and then into the person’s body to facilitate self-healing.

This type of massage comes in three stages. These stages are referred to as the first degree, second degree, and Master degree. In the first degree, the massage practitioner will use his own aura to heal. During the second degree, he will also be able to use auras from other people to facilitate healing. With a Master degree, he will be able to share with others the techniques on how to do reiki massage on other people. The fact that a practitioner uses his own energy from his own hands and body is what makes this therapy different from other healing techniques.

Reiki is practiced by therapists that have training and license to perform this technique. In order to get a license, you need to take and complete reiki classes so that you will learn the techniques on how to transfer energies and use these to boost physical and spiritual aspects of people. This treatment also involves the seven chakras, which are the energy centers of the body.

It is not only a healing therapy but also a form of relaxation that people can use to take a break from their stressful lives. Even if you are not debilitated with any diseases, you will still enjoy the rest and relaxation you will be able to get from this massage.

With the relaxing ambience from a reiki massage session coupled with dim lights and meditative music, this method can work well in soothing and calming ordinary individuals and therefore, reducing stress levels and giving some peace of mind.

Soft tissue therapy (STT)

is the assessment, treatment and management of soft tissue injury, pain and dysfunction primarily of the neuromusculoskeletal system

Soft tissue massage may encompass a variety of massage technique and may include the assessment of the soft tissue and joints of the body. Massage also is a method of treatment and prevention of physical dysfunction and pain of the soft tissues and joints by manipulation to develop, maintain, rehabilitate, and augment physical function, and relieve pain

A Soft Tissue Massage is a specific type of massage which aids in relaxing muscles, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, improves the healing time of strained ligaments and muscular tissue, reduces the inflammation of joints and heart rate, improves range of motion and joint flexibility, increases endorphins, strengthens the immune system, decreases spasms, improves oxygen flow and helps to relieve muscle tension.

Techniques Used

There are several different massage techniques including: Trigger Points A trigger point massage provides relief from chronic muscle pain. It targets the muscles and promotes flexibility of the body’s connective tissue.
Swedish Massage This technique can also be referred to as the broad handed technique. It is used to increase the oxygen flow in the blood and release toxins from muscles.
Friction Friction creates heat used to promote healing in an injured area.

Benefits of Soft Tissue Therapy

Soft tissue therapy is effective in alleviating many symptoms associated with a wide range of medical conditions, and it can improve the performance of your muscles, circulatory system, joints, and immune system. It also has a wide variety of mental benefits, including the ability to induce a very relaxed state of mind.

It is a massage Also known astechnique that dates back as far as the 12th century. Massaging the body with the feet is a hallmark of bodywork throughout India, Japan,China, Thailand, Africa and the Philippines, Shiatsu is an old, traditional, Japanese healing method.
Shiatsu means "finger pressure."

But unlike the massages of the West, where kneading and friction is used, in shiatsu pressure and stretching is the key. The shiatsu practitioner uses palms, fingers, thumbs, knuckles, elbows, knees and the feet, to work on the body's accupucture points, along what they consider the body's meridians or energy channels. Its a form of "touch communication," and is a safe and effective preventive medicine. It helps to balance a persons energy flow, and strengthen the vital organs.
In shiatsu, it is believed that disease is the result of blocked or unbalanced energy, so that it's aither depleted or over-active.

Shiatsu shares the same view as Chinese acupuncture. There are two energy forces, the Yin, or negative, and the Yang, or positive. Basically, the human body is looked upon as a microcosm of the universe, the meridians vital organs are seen as governed by Five Elements and by Yin and Yang. They believe that in a healthy person no element is dominant or deficient in relation to the other. So blocked or unbalanced energy allows disease to take over, and it is either depleted, or kyoto, or overactive-jitsu.

A shiatsu practitioner asks the patient to lie on a mat on the floor, while wearing loose, natural fiber clothing. He or she will then use his hands, elbows, knees, and feet to work on balancing your meridian. He applies pressure to appropriate points to correct the injuries or imbalances. Through touch, two way communication greatly benefits the patient. Shiatsu works on the whole being, from the physical to the spiritual, so during and after the treatment a patient may experience a variety of reactions-crying, laughing, joy, stillness. These reactions are a sign that the body is breaking through old energy patter

Also known as Ashiatsu, (Ashi means “foot” and atsumeans “pressure”)

You have probably seen this on TV or in a magazine, or perhaps experienced it for yourself – stones being placed on different parts of the body, often on the spine, on the palms and between fingers and toes, as part of a therapeutic massage. Such a massage technique is called hot stone massage, but more popularly, La Stone therapy.

La Stone therapy is a technique in massage that was invented and patented by Mary Hannigan in 1993. This massage technique involves the placement of smooth basalt stones, stones that are heated by water up to 120 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, on focal points of the body. As stated above, these focal points include the spine, the palms of the hands and between the fingers and the toes. Basalt stone is used because it retains heat a lot better than most stones, although some massage therapists also make use of zinc, black granite or malachite.

The idea behind La Stone therapy is that the heat emanated by these warm stones penetrates deeper into muscle tissue for a more profoundly relaxing effect. The heat loosens up muscles tightened and tensed by stress, thus taking away the pain and the cramping.

Moreover, the heat from these stones encourages the blood to circulate more properly within the body to provide more nutrients to individual cells. At the same time, the heat of the stone also stimulates the lymphatic system into transporting waste materials coming from individual cells more efficiently.

Another thing that the heat does is to release the energies of the body that are blocked by fatigue and stress, allowing these energies to flow more freely through the body. The nervous system is put into a calmer state, and thus relieves the mind of anxiety.

All in all, the heat of the stones used in La Stone Therapy rejuvenates the body and reawakens its ability to heal itself. It arrests the effects of stress in the body, as we know that stress is often a catalyst in the development of certain diseases.

Hand in hand with the heated basalt stones, pieces of frozen marble are also applied to the skin at certain points in the performance of La Stone Therapy. The frozen marble is supposed to control the dilation of the blood vessels. The application of heated basalt stones and pieces of frozen marble onto the skin is usually accompanied by a dose of Swedish massage.

La Stone massage can be done at home even if you are not a massage therapist. You cannot do this kind of massage to yourself, but you can certainly give and receive it with a partner. There are massage kits containing stones of different sizes for placing on the spin and on the hands and for insertion between the toes and the fingers that can be readily bought from health and wellness stores. One of the keys to performing this massage is communication between the giver and the receiver as to whether the stone is too hot or if it’s not warm enough, or if the pressure applied by the giver of the massage is too hard or too weak.

La Stone massage is a massage therapy that you should certainly try out.

Thai massage is believed to have been developed by Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha, physician to Buddha, more than 2,500 years ago in India. And made its way to Thailand, where the Ayurvedic techniques and principles gradually became influenced by traditional Chinese medicine.

For centuries, Thai massage was performed by monks as one component of Thai medicine.

Thai massage is more energizing and rigorous than more classic forms of massage.

Thai massage is also called Thai yoga massage, because the therapist uses his or her hands, knees, legs, and feet to move you into a series of yoga-like stretches. Many people say Thai massage is like doing yoga without any work.

Muscle compression, joint mobilization, and acupressure are also used during treatment.

People describe Thai massage as both relaxing and energizing.

Thai massage is usually done on a padded mat on the floor.

No oil is applied, so you are fully dressed. You are usually asked to bring or wear comfortable clothing to the massage.

A typical Thai massage is 60 minutes to two hours long.