Improve Workout with Massage Therapy
Improve Workout with Massage Therapy
Exercise puts duress on the body in pursuit of fitness gains. To aid in recovery and improve the results of regular workouts, make sure to incorporate massage therapy into a training plan.
Key takeaways:
Massage as a form of exercise recovery has proven benefits that improve performance.
Athletes can increase base fitness and avoid injury through massage-based conditioning.
There are psychological benefits to massage that can improve workout performance.
Automated massage is the next step forward in customizing athletic recovery programs.
For those serious about fitness, every workout is an opportunity. Whether they’re focused on building muscle, improving endurance or conditioning the body, individuals need to engage in mindful fitness. That is to say, they need to train with purpose, using methods specific to the results they want to achieve. This includes recovery, and massage can play a vital role.
Massage’s ability to alleviate stress and strain on muscles—while improving Range of Motion (ROM) and soft-tissue elasticity—has the power to improve workout results. Those who incorporate massage into a proper recovery regimen will find that their bodies are better-able to respond to increasingly strenuous performance demands, to achieve desired fitness results.
Here’s a closer look at how to improve your workout with massage therapy and the many athletic advantages that accompany regular massage.
With a growing number of individuals suffering from chronic pain, there’s an equally growing movement for holistic treatment—namely, massage. Massage therapy for pain management is well-studied and vetted, and is applicable in both preventive and prescriptive capacities. It’s accessible and individualized. And, unfortunately, it’s also under-utilized.
Despite the many benefits of massage therapy for pain management, it remains an under-utilized medium of relief for sufferers. However, innovation within the field could soon make it more accessible and welcoming for those uncertain about it or apprehensive to it.
RECOVERY INFORMS FUTURE PERFORMANCE
Most people engaged in a fitness regimen consider their efforts in a vacuum—or, at best, in linear relationships. Lifting heavier weights builds bigger muscles, or eating healthier food allows you to run longer on the treadmill. Short of high-level athletes and trainers, what many don’t consider is the effect of recovery on future performance.
There’s a wide body of research that supports the influence of proper recovery on future performance—including massage therapy.
For example, a 2016 meta-analytical review of massage and performance recovery suggests that massage in different durations can improve recovery after general exercise by between 1-8%, depending on the duration of the massage. Likewise, an earlier study focused specifically on the effects of massage on quadriceps performance after exercise fatigue found that, “results showed that massage after exercise fatigue significantly improved quadriceps performance compared to rest.”
These studies and others like them signal the broader conclusion that proper care after a workout enables the body to heal itself better in preparation for the next bout of physical demand. In the same way, a mindful moment can relieve a tired brain, massage can help a tired body recuperate.
Massage HELPS PREVENT INJURY AND SETBACKS
Improving a workout doesn’t simply mean running faster, lifting heavier weights or training for longer. It needs to generate a productive result for the body. Training too hard, too fast or too much will inevitably lead to injury.
Massage not only plays a role in raising the bar for performance, it can also help to prevent injuries and the setbacks that accompany them. To understand how, we need to look at massage’s benefits for ROM, flexibility and soft tissue elasticity.
Sprains, strains and tears are all the product of overwork, and they’re all largely addressed and rehabilitated through conditioning. Improving the body’s flexibility, elasticity and resilience starts by alleviating tightness, stiffness and strain in muscles and tendons—something massage is well-equipped to accomplish.
Again, there’s a wide body of evidence to support massage’s mobility-enhancing benefits. A 2012 systemic review of deep friction massage (DFM) in the treatment of tendinopathy acknowledged massage’s ability to reduce impingement and enable joint mobilization. Meanwhile, a 2022 study on massage-enabled ROM enhancements found that foam rolling in conjunction with exercise improved ankle joint dorsiflexion by as much as 22%.
While massage is proven to improve ROM and reduce joint stiffness—among other studied benefits—it’s true benefit comes from how these improvements inform performance. The runner with looser joints can run better, faster or further. The weight lifter with better ROM can train with better form and engage in a wider variety of exercises. The ability of the body to respond to increasing duress without injury or setback enables a better path forward toward improvement.
The PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF POST-EXERCISE MASSAGE
While the ability of massage therapy to improve workout results is most easily connected to its physical benefits, there are also psychological benefits to consider.
By itself, massage is proven to induce feelings of calmness and tranquility, which has an overwhelmingly positive effect on mood. Paired with exercise, these psychological benefits take on an even greater role. Not only do they extrapolate the benefits of endorphin release during exercise, they also help to induce post-workout satisfaction that helps individuals actualize the benefits of exercise in a positive way.
For example, a 2008 study on the psychological effects of massage on running concluded that targeted massage can actually lower perceptions of exertion during exercise. Results indicated that massage enhanced positive affect (p < .05), lowered self-reported perceptions of physical symptoms (p < .05), and decreased perceived physical effort (p < .05).
There’s also no underestimating the perceived “reward” of massage after exercise. Massage is largely considered a luxury or an indulgence, which can lead people to justify it through exertion. With the promise of a relaxing, restorative, recuperative massage after a particularly strenuous workout, individuals are more likely to exert themselves to their fullest.
MASSAGE SUPPORTS WORKOUT IMPROVEMENT
While the act of massage itself isn’t necessarily the gateway to better athletic performance, it’s a proven tool in supporting purposeful exercise. Massage functions as a mode of recovery, a precaution to injury and a practice that ties the mental and physical aspects of exercise together. And like exercise, it’s customizable to the demands of the individual and the stress they put on their body.
The largest barrier to improving a workout with massage therapy often comes down to the individual. For some, it’s too expensive to seek massage regularly. For others, there are hesitations surrounding massage as a practice. It’s for these reasons that massage robotics stands to be the next innovation in the fitness and wellness industry.
The ability to receive a perfectly programmed massage from a robot, specific to the sensitivity and area of focus of a given workout, is precisely what many people need to engage in mindful fitness and to get the most out of their decision to train with purpose.