Does Sports massage improve athletic performance ?
Many elite athletes Niseko Chiro treats both in Niseko and Okinawa swear by the benefits of sports massage but the research literature is unclear on just what the benefits may be.
A recent meta-analysis on this topic was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine
The study examined 29 published research papers on the topic and concluded that there is no much published evidence that athletic performance may be increased by incorporating sports massage but there are some studies that conclude that recovery and flexibility may be improved with regularly deep tissue massage.
The research review also found there may be a small benefit in the recovery time of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) if sports massage is used in your athlete routine.
Absence of evidence is of course not evidence of absence and if you are an athlete that feels like getting sports massages increases your performance there is no certainly no reason to doubt this may be true, just not enough evidence to conclude it is true.
There is certainly still a good argument that good deep tissue work after an event or your peak required performance is good idea to keep your muscles in top working order.
If you are new to sports massage, then of it just like regularly massage but with much deeper targeted pressure that seeks to make physical changes in the tissue rather than being relaxing and feeling good.
If you would like to discuss this study further or make an appointment with an English speaking Chiropractor in Okinawa or Niseko you can check our schedule on the link below
Niseko Chiropractic Online bookings
References
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Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis