It’s March and spring is almost here! The weather is getting a little warmer out and that is reminding you that swim suit season is approaching. For all of you who are working out, running, spinning, taking barre classes and lifting weights etc that is great! But what are you doing to compliment your exercise routine?

As a massage therapist, I often encounter people who don’t know the value of massage. I meet people who are exercising upwards of three times a week but only getting massage once every year. During the massage they are shocked to see that they have more tight muscles than they realized. To these people I say “Consider incorporating massage into your workout regimen.”

You may be wondering how you can truly benefit from a massage after your workout besides the fact that it feels good. I’ll explain. When you are exercising, you are strengthening the muscles in your body, fatiguing them in order to make them stronger. By doing this you are creating micro tears in the muscles, tears that cause inflammation within your muscles. These tears cause the soreness, also known as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). That soreness is what can make you dread walking down a flight of stairs after a leg day. But you don’t have to suffer!

Did you know that it has been clinically proven that massage helps improve circulation and reduce inflammation? An case study was published in the February 1 2012 issue of Science Translational Medicine. In this study, they analyzed the quadricep muscle before, immediately after and two and a half hours after a strenuous workout. After the workout they massaged one leg and let the other heal on its own and then compared the two findings.  They preformed a biopsy on muscle at the various stages of the study and the findings were that the massage helped reduce inflammation and promote mitochondrial biogenesis, which essentially is oxygen capacity within the muscles, which aids in muscle endurance. 

So, not only will a massage make you feel great but you’ll also recover faster from a strenuous workout! If you’re working out consistently, but not stretching and getting massages on a regular basis, your muscles can become shortened and your range of motion can be negatively affected. It’s not enough that the muscles are strong, they have to be working at their full potential as well. The objective is strong and lean muscles.

When your muscles are feeling sore and achy avoid to desire to take aspirin or ibuprofen to ease the pain of a post workout. The side affects of ingesting aspirin can be damaging.

Instead Try these things in between massage appointments to keep the pain at bay:

• Heat or ice therapy
• Soaking in a warm Epsom salt bath
• Topical ointments like Topricin
• Salonpas patches
• Rest

I hope you now understand the value of massage and exercise and plan to incorporate massage and these other practices into your workout routine. Your body will thank you.