With the swim season coming to an end, it is time to think of ways to improve for the Fall Season. If you swim competitively, you are in the pool more often than not, we should just dub you a fish. Your body is swimming through a lot of resistance each lap you take during practice and especially during competitions. You push your body more than you ever have before. Let me paint you a picture, you’re a swimmer standing on the block ready to dive in. What’s this race, it’s the 400 IM. This race is intense, four different strokes that you have to be the best at. Unlike the 200 fly, where it’s focused on one type of stroke and that’s what you practice day in and day out. The race is over now and you’re looking up at the scores. An hour has passed since your race and your body is starting to feel the onset of the soreness. You’re thinking about taking a few anti-inflammatory pills…
STOP!
Let me tell you why you should get a swimmers massage instead.
7 Reasons YOU Need a Swimmers Massage
- Promotes mental and physical relaxation.
- It could be a chemical reason why people are more relaxed during massages or it is due to doing nothing for a period of time. Massages have been known to relax people and reduce stress. All of this is true, massages may help the dull ache in your back and that’ll get you feeling more relaxed. It allows you a moment of time to not think about anything other than how good the masseuses’ hands feel on tight areas of your body. A massage allows you to focus on one thing and to take a break from your hectic schedule which would hopefully result in a more peaceful mind and loosened muscles.
- Improves range of motion and mobility.
- Massages work on muscles, tissue, tendons, ligaments, and joints, it keeps them more fluid. A massage stimulates blood flow and improves flexibility. It relieves muscle tightness which allows it to be more relaxed and move more freely.
- Improves circulation and reduces swelling.
- Pressure from a massage increases blood flow. The action of squeezing and pulling flushes lactic acid from muscles which improve circulation of the lymph nodes. This also can result in lower blood pressure.
- Aids in pain management.
- Massage therapy relaxes muscle tissue which reduces painful contractions and spasms. It can also reduce nerve compression that can be related to pain.
- Aids in recovery and reduced/delayed soreness.
- Increases muscle blood flow and is thought to suppress inflammation and enhance cell recovery. Anti-inflammatory medication can reduce inflammation but also tends to block muscle repair and growth.
- Assists in preventing injuries from overuse.
- Deep tissue massages stretch and lengthen muscle fibers. By releasing tensions in muscles and the surrounding areas, it increases joint flexibility. The more range of motion you have in a joint or muscle the less likely you will have an overuse injury occur.
- Warms the muscles.
- Massage brings warmth to the superficial tissue of the body and increases blood flow to deeper muscles. Blood carries nutrients which stimulate recovery.
As a parent, you’re probably wondering why a massage is better than taking medication or just letting your body go through the process. Massages are not only relaxing for your body but also mentally. Your swimmer has just gone through a tough swim, especially if it was for nationals or something similar. Their minds are racing and they’re probably doubting what happened, how they swam if they could have done better. The important thing about situations like this is that what’s done is done. They cannot change how they just swam, your swimmer just needs to accept how they did. Physically, the swimmer’s body builds tension in certain areas, such as your shoulder. Those nagging knots you have won’t go away, treat them before they get worse and keep you out of the pool! Not all massages are the same, Dr. John Mullen has all the dos and don’ts of swimmers massage.
Also, if you’re in pain, you should see a physical therapist who specializes in swimming!
If you want to know what it costs – and what availability we have at our clinic helping serve Santa Clara, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, San Jose, Palo Alto and the entire Bay Area, then please just click the button below and complete the short form:
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If you’re ready to schedule a massage session, see below!
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