Sports massage: benefits for body and mind

In addition to the most characteristic benefits that sports massage provides to professionals and beginners, we can highlight 5 benefits that make massage therapy one of the most important methods for resuming competitive activity.

Anxiety Reduction

An athlete who doesn’t suffer from anxiety? Where have you ever seen this? Performance is a concern for every person who plays sports, regardless of their level.

Research has shown that massage therapy can help significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety. In short, sports massage reduces sympathetic tone, which is instead high in people with generalized anxiety disorder.

You should be aware that there are two different nervous systems in the body: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. When you receive a massage, the parasympathetic (calming) response increases and this mainly leads to a decrease in the state of anxiety. This effect also lasts a long time, from 6 to 18 months after treatment.

Improving sleep quality

Problems with sleep or insomnia? Massage therapy helps you sleep deeper! The reason is simple, sleep is related to the activity of the nervous system. When you massage, the nervous system slows down due to the pressure.

Fight fatigue

We have all passed this stage. You have been rolling over and over in bed all night, work does nothing but stress, and you feel like you can’t even breathe for five minutes. And here you are once exhausted to be collected with a teaspoon.

Whatever the cause of your fatigue, the simplest solution is massage. Yes exactly! And a very recent study from 2018 says it explains how participants experienced a reduction in feelings of fatigue after treatment.

To get the most out of massage therapy, experts recommend a session once a week for a specific period of time.

Increased concentration

By linking this feeling of fatigue with the previous point, massage can dramatically improve focus and concentration. This is because your heart rate must be lowered to maximize attention.

Since massage slows down the activity of the nervous system, therefore, the heart rate also decreases. During massage therapy, pressure receptors stimulate vagus activity that originates from a nerve in the brain that leads to various branches of the body, including the heart.

Thus, the pressure generated by the massage will decrease the heart rate, which will ultimately lead to better concentration.

Injury Recovery

If you get hurt or have joint pain, especially if the problem is chronic or long-term, you will also have so-called soft tissue restrictions that cause severe pain points. Massage therapists remove these restrictions and improve circulation.

But why are these restrictions dangerous? Over time, they can lead to joint breakdown or ligament problems. By actively massaging the restraints of soft tissues, you not only heal yourself of trauma, but also prevent other problems you may encounter on your healing journey.

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