A story on my discovery of Sports Massage- Alanna Harley

A couple of years ago, right before covid, I was Muay Thai training in Thailand (Thailand’s national sport) in the city Bangkok. After training & dinner, I would walk a few blocks away from the place I resided in (& near the gym) to get some body work done with Thai Massage. It wasn’t very relaxing, it was done on the floor on a blanket & there were deep stretches involved & some deep pressure with knees. Afterwards I would feel looser and relaxed. Some parts were relaxing. Especially the hand massage, which was my favorite. With all the muay thai training, twice a day, five days a week, I knew my body would be tight with all the hard repetitive movements. The massages were super affordable in Thailand so I would get one every couple of days. One day, after training, a friend who is an olympic boxer and MMA professional fighter to this day, Jennifer Chang, asked me what I was up to that evening. I told her that I was planning on getting a massage. She has been a fighter for over a decade and she is knowledgeable about recovery as an athlete. Because I was training hard the next day, and or if I were to compete, she advised me not to get deep pressure massages. She explained that athletes like us (I was still a freshly new amateur (amateur who doesn't get paid in the sport) must not confuse our muscles by lengthening them before an event because we need our fast twitch muscles to function properly and no soreness. Then I remembered what my massage therapist teacher discussed in school. At the gym, and right before a fighter goes in the ring to fight, their coaches would get them ready by massaging thai oil on them (warming oil) and vigorously massage their bodies (without deep pressure) just to increase the fighters circulation and warm up their bodies for performance and some active stretches -nothing static. Here are a few useful things to consider if you are an athlete curious or wanting a sports massage. Special concern for sprinters, dancers, gymnasts, fighters, springboard divers, etc. “The closer to a period of physical exertion the less intrusive the massage should be”. Two reasons, inflammation and neurological familiarity.

Inflammation: it is best not to reinflame or further traumatize the tissue with prematurely applied or deep pressure. It's not fun feeling sore and moving a bit slower because of that and it may also increase recovery time, adversely affecting performance. 

Neurological Familiarity: Like Jennifer was telling me, I need my fast twitch muscles to perform accurately. Deep tissue or deep pressure before an event may also cause spasms and muscle cramping. 

Benefits of sports Massage

Increase:

Circulation

Body Awareness

Relaxation

Feeling Good

Performance (Readiness and Focus)

Muscle Balance and Joint Mechanics

Flexibility and Range of Motion

Muscle Function

Training Quality

Decrease:

Hypertonicity

Post Work Soreness

Recovery Time

Cramping and Spasm

Adhesions and Scarring

Pain

Lost Training / Competition TIme

Risk of Injury

Nervousness / Performance Anxiety

Three Modalities

Pre Event

Post Event

Maintenance

-Alanna Harley