No matter what sport or activity you perform, proper care is a must for athletes. Massage therapy is popular due to its ability to relax and soothe and provides major benefits to sporting types looking to boost performance and feel better while doing it. The following guide will explain why you should incorporate massage therapy into your routine as an athlete.

Why Get Massage Therapy as an Athlete?

1. Increase Range of Motion

Sports massage is a natural method to ease muscle tension. While athletics are a great form of exercise, they can also cause muscles to grow stiff and tense. When muscles are tense, your range of motion will also be impacted. A decreased range of motion means poorer performance on the field.

2. Reduce Inflammation

Tough workouts can also cause muscles to become inflamed due to minute tears in muscle tissue. While inflammation will eventually heal on its own with some rest, many athletes use massage to reduce inflammation. As muscles are massaged, circulation improves and reduces inflammation. 

3. Decrease Pain

Aches and pains are common after a tough workout. Therapeutic massage is both mentally and physically healing, which is why it’s a good post-workout technique. Along with decreasing stress and easing tension, some research shows that massage also stops pain messages from going to the brain by stimulating healthy nerve fibers.

4. Speed Up Healing

Deep tissue massage is often used to treat common sprains and muscle strains that plague athletes. The intense pressure applied, which is quite different when compared to more relaxing massage therapy, also boosts blood flow to damaged muscles. This helps speed up healing while also breaking up existing scar tissue. 

Whether you’re an athlete or are recovering from a serious injury, Enterprise Therapy Center is here to lend a hand. Serving the Enterprise, AL, community since 2002, these caring therapists offer the benefit of more than four decades of combined experience. Along with massage treatment for athletes, they also offer aquatic therapy, dry needling, pain management, and spine rehabilitation. Call (334) 393-7500 to schedule an initial consultation or visit the website for more information on sports therapy.