Clinical sport & remedial therapy
BodyWorks
Clinical sports therapy
What is sports therapy?
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There is both much confusion over what a Sports therapist is and what one does or can offer. This is due to the fact that there are so many people practicing ‘massage' and so many practitioners with different skills and levels of experience.
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A Sports therapist is ideal to treat injuries and as well as a preventative treatment dealing with the health of muscle and connective tissue, range of movement, tone, symmetry, balance of muscle and quality of posture.
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Sport therapy is ‘the manipulation of soft tissue to release tension, reduce pain, restore range of movement and promote good condition'.
Essentially the ‘manipulation of soft tissue' means moving muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissue around in a range of ways to achieve the desired effect.If there is pain or discomfort, loss of mobility or restriction of movement we, as soft tissue specialists, can treat and hopefully cure.
If there is a sporting activity or a training schedule being followed regular treatments can enhance performance and an ongoing relationship with the practitioner can only make this even more effective. Similarly our everyday working lives and lifestyles create the same set of problems and these, in the same way, can also be treated successfully.
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More than a treatment for injuries, sports massage produces overwhelming benefits for athletes physically, physiologically, and psychologically. Sports massage is designed to prepare the athlete for their best performance, reduce fatigue, and relieve muscle swelling and tension
Benefits of sports therapy
Physiological Effects
Massage affects the cardiovascular system. It dilates blood vessels, which helps them work more efficiently to promote circulation. The manual assistance of encouraging venous blood flow back to the heart enhances blood flow, which delivers fresh oxygen and nutrients to the tissue and promotes the removal of waste products and toxins. Thanks to the relaxed state you’re in during and after the massage, your heart rate lowers.
Benefits of massage to the muscular system directly ties to cardiovascular benefits. The increased and enhanced blood circulation helps to relieve muscle tension, reduce soreness and make for a faster recovery. Then, the relaxed muscles can experience an increase in range of motion and flexibility.
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Sports massage reduces inflammation and promotes the growth of new mitochondria, the energy-producing units in the cells, following a bout of strenuous exercise. What does that mean? It means that massage can help pain relief, build muscles and encourage their recovery as well. Not only does massage feel good on the muscle tissues, it actually is good for them.
Psychological Effects
The psychological effect provided to an athlete by an experience such as sport massage may be of importance in a non-physiological manner.” These benefits include reducing stress and tension and anxiety while promoting relaxation by activating your parasympathetic nervous system. So you get an increase in dopamine and serotonin levels and a reduction in cortisol levels, which are directly linked to stress.
