Whether you’re a competitive athlete, a weekend warrior, or someone who just works out in a variety of ways to stay mobile and strong as you age, sports massage may be the missing link in your routines that you didn’t know was, well, missing.

Often people who move a lot in their bodies – everyone from runners to pilates students and yogis to dancers to weight lifters – don’t think of massage until there’s an injury or some general sorts of pain or maybe some lack of flexibility showing up.

These are great reasons to book a sports massage, for sure. They’re also pretty typical reasons that people book massages in general.

If you’re already sure that there’s nothing seriously structurally wrong that needs medical attention, massage is a great tool for healing from injury or a chronic issue like a frozen shoulder. (If you do have a diagnosis, check with your doctor before booking a massage, and when you do schedule, make sure you’re very clear with your therapist about what’s going on.)

But besides prescriptive massage after an injury has occured, there are two other great ways to use massage as a mover: before for prevention of injury and after for recovery from your workouts and practices.

Integrating massage into your regular workout and practice rotations is a great way to create a body that is ready and relaxed. It’s also been shown to increase proprioception – or your awareness of your body in space – and interoception – or awareness of your body from the inside –  and those two things put together are a big component of injury prevention.

Using massage after your biggest workouts or practices of the week or month is also beneficial for muscle recovery and injury prevention. Your muscles will return to a relaxed state more quickly. Over time, if you continue to integrate regular massage, this benefit actually builds up.

And remember, all of these benefits are on top of the usual benefits of massage therapy for anyone.

Did you know that we have a sports massage therapist on staff? Carl Holmes understands this from both sides of the table. Of course he understands as a therapist, but he also gets it as someone who used to beat up his own body pretty good in Mixed Martial Arts. He’ll work with you to create a plan that is unique to your needs and he’ll help you to reach new levels whether you’re participating in actual competition or competing with yourself.