Massage Therapy for Student Athletes

Ever heard about massage therapy for athletes? If you want to enhance your performance, speed up recovery from a sports injury, or prevent any injury after extensive training sessions, you are in the right place! 

Massage therapy helps athletes improve their circulation, release muscle tension, increase joint flexibility, and lessen the effect of delayed-onset muscle soreness. Receiving regular massages helps athletes to reach their fullest potential.

Let’s explore further benefits of massage therapy for student-athletes in Jacksonville and which techniques are useful in this regard. So, let’s dive right in!

Can Massage Therapy Help With Athletic Performance?
Massage therapy designed for athletes is proven to help with performance and recovery. By receiving regular massage therapy, athletes allow their body to actively recover after engaging in strenuous physical activities and can even speed up the recovery process. Athletes can also expect to decrease their likelihood of injuries during their sports season as massage therapy helps keep the body in ideal functioning form.

Deep tissue, clinical bodywork or cupping massage therapy is focused on treating muscle tightness and pain and releases stressed nerves, ligaments and tendons. These modalities are the best options to look for as an athlete seeking therapeutic massages. 

Athletes playing basketball, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, and any other physical activity should consider scheduling regular massages to achieve peak performance and maintain their athletic progress. Students from Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida looking to participate in NCAA Division I sports and athletics can find various benefits through massage therapy. 

Read our other articles linked below about massage therapy for pain relief and injury recovery!
Click to read about how massage therapy can help with Golfer's Elbow.
Click to discover how massage therapy relieves pain and improves performance.
Massage therapy also reduces soft-tissue pain after an intense match.

Benefits of Massage Therapy for Athletes
Massage therapy has various physiological, restorative, and mental benefits for student-athletes. Students from various schools that engage in sports like Jacksonville University (JU), Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) and the University of North Florida (UNF) and others located in Jacksonville, Florida should seek therapeutic massage therapy to improve their athletic performance. 
Prevents the Effects of Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Delayed-onset muscle soreness occurs within a day or two after engaging in intense exercise. It prevents athletes from reaching their full potential as it leaves the muscles feeling uncomfortably achy and sore.

One way to lessen the effects of DOMS is sports massage therapy. If massage therapy is received before the work-out, it can prepare the muscle tissue for extensive performance while playing any sport. When utilized as a recovery tool, massage therapy helps to relax and release tension in the muscle. Massage sends oxygen to the muscles leading to faster recovery after overexertion. This is especially useful when you are expected to perform in back-to-back games or multi-day tournaments and don’t have days to recover in between.

Waste Elimination and Enhanced Circulation
Due to massage therapy, athletes experience enhanced blood circulation due to vasodilation. Improved blood flow means the muscles receive fresh blood and oxygen important for effective performance. It leads to improved tissue health as well. Enhanced blood flow also means faster waste elimination from the muscles. If metabolic wastes don’t release from the muscles, they lead to fatigue highly affecting an athlete's performance during a game. So, massage therapy can help eliminate wastes from the muscles, enhance blood circulation, and increase oxygen and healthy nutrient supply in the muscles. 

Increases Flexibility
Being flexible is an important element for athletes. Flexibility helps athletes prevent injuries and widen their range of motion during activities. That’s where massage therapy comes in handy. Repetitive motions while training make the joints and tendons of an athlete hard. However, massage therapy enhances the flexibility of the joints and increases an athlete’s range of motion. So, an athlete can tackle the game better and play strategically for their team due to massage therapy. 

Improves Mental Health
It is a well-known fact that any type of massage therapy relieves stress. It activates our body’s natural system of relieving stress within only 10 minutes of massage. As an athlete, it is crucial to manage stress and performance anxiety. Massage therapy allows the body to naturally produce serotonin and lower cortisol levels which helps combat stress hormones. 

Enhanced Sleep
Sleep is essential for athletes to recover and prepare for competition. However, stress and anxiety can interrupt sleep and affect your body physically. Massage therapy helps athletes physiologically and psychologically reset their body and chemical levels and allow for more restful nights.

Massage Therapy for Injury Recovery
Getting minor injuries from training sessions and sports games is common for athletes. Competitive student-athletes often train months and even year-round to prepare for their season. This leads to muscle and tissue injury. Here’s how massage therapy can help with injury recovery and prevention for student-athletes!

Graston Technique Massage
In the Graston Technique, practitioners use up to 6 tools made up of stainless steel. The tools are convex and concave-shaped with round edges. This technique involves cross-friction massage. It has the following benefits in injury recovery for athletes:

• Increases the blood flow in the area.
• Promotes the healing of soft tissues.
• Enhances mobility in the affected tissues.
• Reduces muscle spasms and restrictions in fibrous tissue.

Active Release Technique Massage
Active release technique (ART) massage works for athletes facing overused muscle as it targets soft tissues for relieving tissue tension. It also removes fibrosis which occurs due to repetitive use of muscles. 
ART has added benefits as well such as:

• More flexibility.
• Short-term pain relief.
• Increased strength in quadriceps muscles. 

Myofascial Release Massage
Myofascial release massage helps release tension from muscles. It is a gentle massage technique that affects myofascial tissues. The massage involves both gentle and heavy pressure movements through the hands. It strengthens the fascia of your entire body and releases all the blockages encountered in the way. This way, the muscles are relaxed and athletes can perform better in the next game.

Now you know how massage therapy helps student-athletes in preventing injury, and injury recovery, and enhances performance before a game. Massage therapy has various benefits for athletes such as improved sleep, better blood flow, released muscle tension, etc. The Wellness Hub is proud to offer massage services to student athletes from Jacksonville University, Florida State College of Jacksonville, University of North Florida, Fletcher High School, Sandalwood High School, Bishop Kenny High School, and Episcopal School of Jacksonville.

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We are pleased to serve the following Florida communities with massage therapy, chiropractic, organic skincare, acupuncture, red light therapy and more: Jacksonville, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Mandarin, Jacksonville Beach, Nocatee, St Johns, Ponte Vedra and more.

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