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How massage can help you achieve your health and fitness goals in 2023!

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 11:47:54 GMT

It’s January and most of us have alr eady decided that 2023 is the year that we will achieve something new.

For many of us that goal will have something to do with our physical and/or mental health. It might be to:

Treat yourself better - get more sleep, do more exercise, eat more healthily

Find more me time - make time to take a deep breath and relieve the stresses of your daily life

Get fit - Start walking everywhere, use the stairs instead of the lift, try couch to 5K

Get fitter - Go to the gym more regularly, start a new sport, go further, go faster

Run a marathon - Write up a training plan, build up the miles, learn to push-through

Do a triathlon - Improve your swim, bike and run, learn to sea swim, perfect your T1 and T2

Whatever your goal, it’s worth knowing that regular massage can transform your body and mind, increasing you productivity and motivation.

Here are 14 impressive benefits that massage can have on your physical and mental health:

Positively impact your mental health and well-being

It is important to take a holistic approach to mental health. There is no one-stop solution or magic pill that can instantly make everything better, but learning to slow down, take care of yourself and find balance is a great beginning. Regular massage, as part of a well-rounded health and wellness focus, can make a world of difference.

Reduce stress and anxiety

Cortisol is the “stress” hormone. When you’ve got high levels of cortisol racing around your body, you feel exhausted, anxious, and tense. Long-term stress and elevated cortisol levels can lead to a host of other health problems. Massage has been proven to reduce cortisol levels by as much as 30 percent, in turn helping your body to battle anxiety naturally.

Naturally Increase your body’s production of happy hormones

Scientists have discovered that massage can boost both serotonin and dopamine by about 30 percent, giving you a natural mood boost. It also helps release oxytocin, also known as the ‘love’ or ‘cuddle’ hormone, promoting deep feelings of wellbeing, ease, and comfort.

Relieve Symptoms of Depression

Researchers analysed 17 clinical studies to see if massage therapy can help ease symptoms of depression. Every single study concluded that massage had positive results in relieving some of the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Please note: If you do suffer from depression massage is just part of the tool kit that can help you. Please make sure you get professional help and advice to find out what other tools are available to you on your healing journey.

Calm Your Mind

Along with the physical changes that massage can induce, the simple act of taking a break from your workload, can help reset your brain and let you take a deep breath. The opportunity to step away for a moment can help give you perspective, so you return to your tasks with a calmer mind and body.

Improve Your Sleep

Getting plenty of regular sleep is an essential part of any wellness routine. Without it, we are more susceptible to a range of physical and mental problems. The effects of increased blood circulation, lowered heart rate, and relaxed muscles can help you sleep more easily, and for longer, when your head finally hits the pillow.

Help you Feel Fresh and Energised

When your mental health is suffering you can feel constantly drained and exhausted. Because massage improves circulation, It can help you feel more energised and focused, banishing those feelings of fatigue and lethargy.

Relax and soften tired, overused and injured muscles

Overused and injured muscles contain adhesions and minor scar tissue between muscles and the surrounding fascia. These tensions and adhesions can impair your range of motion, leading to abnormal movement patterns that can cause overuse injuries. Massage relaxes tense muscles and removes any adhesions and scar tissue.

Help avoid injury

Regular maintenance massages are a great way to maintain overall muscle health and to identify any problem areas before injuries occur. A qualified remedial massage therapist will be able to highlight any areas of weakness of tightness and provide you with strengthening and stretching exercises to rectify any imbalances.

Help speed up injury rehabilitation

Massage enhances tissue permeability, allowing oxygen and nutrients to reach your muscle cells faster and remove waste products. It aids the break down of scar tissue and can optimise your muscle fibres orientation following muscle remodelling and hard training periods.

Reduce pain and tension

Deep tissue massage relieves pain and tension in several ways, including relaxing painful muscles, tendons, and joints, relieving stress and anxiety, and helping to “close the pain gate” by stimulating competing nerve fibres and impeding pain messages to and from the brain.

Stretch tight muscles, Increase flexibility & range of motion

Massage helps reduce muscle tightness and increase flexibility and range of motion by increasing tissue elasticity. Massage applies pressure to muscle fibres, stretching and elongating them. A good sports or remedial massage will use stretches and advanced massage techniques such as Soft Tissue Release and Muscle Energy Techniques to soften and lengthen your muscles.

Improve posture

By carrying out a postural analysis, a massage therapist can identify any musculoskeletal imbalances that are contributing to your posture. Massage therapy can then reduce muscle tension, loosen joints and allow you to move more freely, encouraging good posture. A therapist will then suggest lifestyle changes and exercises that will help correct any imbalances or weaknesses.

Help you train harder

Sports massage speeds up the healing process in your soft tissues and rebalances your musculoskeletal system, allowing you to avoid injury, optimise your training and maximise your performance.

Sources

Cortisol decreases and serotonin and dopamine increase following massage therapy - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16162447/

Treatment effects of massage therapy in depressed people: a meta-analysis - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20361919/

Effectiveness of massage therapy on shoulder range of motion - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28265175/

Lower back pain is reduced and range of motion increased after massage therapy - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11264915/

Therapeutic Massage for Pain Relief - https://www.health.harvard.edu/alternative-and-integrative-health/therapeutic-massage-for-pain-relief

Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis - https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000614/?

How to reduce the risk of injury while training for the marathon - 5 top tips!

carrie_holme@hotmail.com (Caroline Holme) — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 13:46:52 GMT

Follow these top tips while marathon training to reduce your risk of injury:

1. Never forget your warm up or cool down

The warm up and cool down are often a neglected part of our training, especially when time is limited, but it is an important part of injury prevention. A 10 minute warm up (fast walk or slow run) will slowly increase your heart rate, improve circulation and warm up your muscles so they are stretched and ready for the run ahead. The cool down is just as important as this will help remove waste products from your body, reduce muscle soreness and bring your heart rate and blood pressure back to resting levels. You should spend 10 minutes gradually reducing your speed from running to walking.

2. Increase your distance slowly

Your body needs time to adapt to the new distances that you’re running. Increase your training distances slowly and listen to what your body is telling you. If you do it too quickly you’re much more likely to suffer from training injuries such as runner’s knee, ITB pain syndrome or shin splints. Many running experts recommend the 10% rule, which states that you should only increase mileage in increments of 10% in a week. So if you are running 20 miles this week you should only run 22 next week. This rule is fine for a lot of runners, but of course everyone is different. Choose a training plan based on your background and fitness level. The key is to build up your mileage as your body feels able. By the end of your training schedule you should aim to match your event distance and pace and the gradient of the course that you’ll be running.

3. Cross-train

If your only exercise is running, you are more likely to get injured. Vary your training programme with sessions of plyometrics, strength training, yoga and low-impact cardio, such as swimming. If your whole body is fit and healthy, you’ll be much better equipped to handle the intense physical challenge that is marathon running. Pay particular attention to your core as core strength increases stabilisation of the torso, allowing the pelvis, hips, and lower back to work together more smoothly to expend less energy. Core strength also significantly improves balance.

4. Listen to your body

Most running injuries don’t come from out of the blue. They will usually start with aching or soreness first. If rest and cold therapy don’t help, seek advice from a physio who can assess and treat you accordingly. If you are training regularly, invest in a regular sports massage to help your body recover and improve performance. A good sports massage therapist will be able to tell you which of your muscles feel tight and work to reduce muscle knots, improve flexibility and increase range of motion, consequently reducing your risk of injury.

5. Sleep

Sleep is an important part of your training regime. Your body recovers while you are sleeping, therefore the more you run, the more you need to sleep! Not sleeping enough will increase your risk of injury, illness and overtraining syndrome. Aim to sleep an extra minute per night for every mile per week that you are running. For example, if you are running 30 miles a week, aim to sleep an extra 30 mins per night.

Good luck with your training! If you would like to book in for a sports massage to help you recover from your training schedule call 07753 181649 or email caroline@happybalancemassage.co.uk

The Benefits of Massage for Marathon Runners

carrie_holme@hotmail.com (Caroline Holme) — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 12:20:30 GMT

Running a marathon is a huge commitment and an intense physical challenge. Here are 10 reasons why you should include sports massage in your training schedule.

There’s no denying that a good massage feels great, but it can also offer a number of physiological and psychological benefits after your training sessions, and after the main event itself.

Here are 10 ways that your body can benefit from a sports massage:

Massage relaxes tense muscles and removes adhesions and minor scar tissue between muscles and the surrounding fascia. This is important as tension and adhesions can impair your range of motion, leading to abnormal movement patterns that can cause overuse injuries.
It increases flexibility and reduces muscle pain and soreness after a training run.
It aids circulation, helping to remove metabolic waste products from your exercised muscles.
It enhances tissue permeability, allowing oxygen and nutrients to reach your muscle cells faster and remove waste products.
It aids the break down of scar tissue. It can optimise your muscle fibres orientation following muscle remodelling and hard training periods.
Regular maintenance massages are a great way to maintain overall muscle health and to identify any problem areas before injuries occur.
Deep tissue massage can reduce and relieve muscle tensions, getting to the areas that are tricky to reach using your own foam roller.
Relaxation, an often overlooked aspect of training! Sports massage calms both body and mind allowing you to reenergise, relax and rebuild the confidence to prepare for your next run. It’s a great way to take a break from your gruelling training schedule and a much-needed excuse to just relax for an hour.
Having a lighter, Swedish relaxation massage 2-3 days before your marathon can decrease any pre-race anxiety and help you to optimise your performance.
Booking a post-race sports massage 1-3 days after is not only something to look forward to while you’re pounding the streets, it will also help you recover more quickly.

In short, Sports massage speeds up the healing process in your soft tissues and rebalances your musculoskeletal system, allowing you to avoid injury, optimise your training and maximise your performance!

If you would like to incorporate massage therapy into your marathon training, or book in a pre-race or post-race massage to help you relax and recover, contact me to book an appointment.

https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000614/?
https://today.uic.edu/massage-therapy-improves-circulation-alleviates-muscle-sorenessint_source=trendmd&int_medium=cpc&int_campaign=usage-042019
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20543728/