Sports massage is effective because of the beneficial physiological and psychological effects that are derived from the massage. Specifically, sports massage treatments enable an athlete in training to work out and recover faster and more efficiently, regardless of whether they are a "weekend warrior" or a professional. During any exercise, as a muscle contracts to do the work, it's fibers shorten and glide together allowing the muscle and tendon to broaden. In sports massage, compression and friction techniques imitate this broadening to help create more pliability of the connective tissues and eliminating restrictions in the broadening of the muscle. There are numerous benefits to a comprehensive Sports Massage program: Improvement of circulation Reduces muscle tension Reduces swelling, stiffness and soreness from training Aids in lymphatic drainage Decreases muscle fatigue ans speeds recovery of muscle and tendons after hard workouts and competitions Aids in preventing muscular spasm Reduces risk of injury greater improvement in strength, endurance and overall fitness Increases flexibility and range of motion, along with improving alignment of body to optimize performance and eliminate wear and tear Aids in the healing of acute injuries so that they do not become a source of repetitive aggravation Breaks down scar tissue and adhesions which lead to improper muscular function Enhances the athlete's awareness of their body And much more... How are Sports Massage treatments different from a basic massage Treatment? While each system uses a hands-on approach to soft tissue manipulation, Sports Massage is extremely specific. Like massage therapy, Sports Massage addresses the muscle bellie, along with working with the entire length of the muscle from origin to insertion. Instead of a general approach, Sports Massage identifies postural and biomechanical distortions that are involved with pain patterns. Sports Massage strategically manipulates specific soft tissue components to facilitate structural change and balance. A tight muscle is a weak muscle. A tight muscle is not using all of it's fibers for contracting and therefore a workout will not be as effective and a tight muscle increases the risk of injury. At Zenergy, we use the Muscle Release Technique® and Active Isolated Stretching as the basis for most of our Sports Therapy treatments. Over 90% of chronic sports injuries can start healing in 1 to 4 sessions, if done in conjunction with stretching techniques that each client is shown after every session. Click here for more information on the benefits of Active Isolated Stretching. During the each session (particularly the initial session), I may also use some massage techniques to understand the underlying issues in the muscles. In my experience, pain often shows up in one part of the body, while the root cause is in another part of the body. For this reason, I specifically work on the whole body, not just the traditional sports massage approach of addressing individual muscles.