The Importance of Massage while Marathon Training
Massage Heights Canada
Helping as many people as possible achieve a higher quality of life through the benefits of regular massage therapy
As the Winter season ends and we slowly ease into Spring, the average daily temperature is gradually rising. With this shift in weather, outdoor activities like running naturally resume. As we lead into marathon training, there are a lot of important factors to keep in mind. These include maintaining proper nutrition, drinking enough water, getting sufficient rest, and stretching regularly. Our bodies reap both the benefits and the consequences of physical training and therefore treatments like massage can be an incredibly helpful practice while preparing for marathons.
Marathon training can take up to 20 weeks, and depending on your schedule or goals, it could take even longer than this, subjecting your muscles to a long period of high impact. Training for a marathon involves improving speed and endurance, and each of these can affect your muscles in different ways. Fortunately, there are ways you can help yourself make it to the end of the training season, one of the most beneficial tactics being massage therapy.
Are massages good for marathon training? Put simply, yes, they can be very helpful. While training, it is important to keep up with treating and preventing sports-related injuries. Visiting a massage therapist regularly will help keep training on track and improve overall performance while avoiding casual and/or serious injuries. Running is a high-impact sport, and your muscles and joints absorb a lot of the impact for you. Massage can help reduce a lot of the effects that training can have on your body.
So which type of massage is best for runners? While relaxing massages have many benefits for muscles, sports massages are specifically focused to benefit athletes. This type of massage can be characterized in two ways: pre-activity and post-activity. In a pre-activity sports massage, dynamic stretching is used to allow the connective tissue to move through its full range of motion, thereby reducing possible injury. In post-activity massage, the primary focus is recovering the muscle tissue impacted during previous activities. This type of massage involves using long strokes to realign muscle fibres and flush out the toxins that contribute to muscle and joint soreness to leave athletes feeling better.
Sports massage allows massage therapists to address specific areas of concern while helping athletes’ bodies achieve maximum athletic performance. Whether you’re a casual runner or an elite professional athlete, this type of massage is a great addition to your routine, helping to prevent and rehabilitate injuries, relieve pain, reduce fatigue, promote flexibility, and improve endurance. For anyone involved in regular or sporadic athletic activities, sports massage is a necessary addition to take your wellness routine to the next level.
领英推荐
While sports massage is a primary way to focus on sports-related concerns, combining other types of massage as part of your training can be incredibly beneficial. Varying your routine with gentler and more relaxing massages, such as Swedish massage, offers a range of therapeutic benefits. And alternating with deep tissue massage works to relieve chronic muscle tension and rehabilitate muscles. Massage is a great way to begin training, maintain healthy muscles during training, and follow up as part of the healing process.
If you are wondering whether it is better to get a massage before or after a marathon, we’ll add that it is beneficial to do both. Massage in the days after a marathon can reduce muscle soreness, while massage before a race can prepare your body for the hard work ahead. You can opt for a deep tissue massage the week before your marathon or a relaxing Swedish massage closer to the day of the marathon. How soon after a marathon can you get a massage?The optimal time would be one to three days after your marathon to let the strain on the muscles subside but massage can be beneficial at any point during the week following a marathon.
Massage helps with recovery because it improves circulation in the muscles. Regular massage can help identify problem areas or muscle tightness where your therapist can help focus on relieving the tension. Some other benefits of massage include reduced muscle tension, stimulation of the lymphatic system, reduction of stress hormones, increased joint mobility and flexibility, as well as improved recovery of soft tissue injuries.
Training for a marathon is no easy feat. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and endurance from your body. Making sure you are taking care of your muscles and joints and assuming responsibility for healing and preventing injuries is the key to making it to the end of marathon season.?
If you’ve already begun your training program, don’t forget the importance of massage leading up to race day. Massage Heights is a proud partner of RUN Calgary. We will be offering on-site mini-massages and exclusive offers to all of the runners who participate over the course of the season. We can’t wait to help you on your journey across the finish line and beyond.