What Is Sports Massage?

What is Sports Massage? “Sports Massage” is another term that seems to mean both everything and nothing. In massage school, we were required to research and report on a massage modality of our choosing, and I remember choosing “sports massage” because I loved the idea of working with athletes and wanted to learn more about how to do it. I came up empty. In the course of my research, I couldn’t find a single technique or skill specific to sports massage. All I could find were descriptions of when a sports massage was given: pre-event and post-event. Nowhere, anywhere, could I find a discussion of what happened at these pre-event and post-event massages that made them uniquely sports massages. Not even when I was sent, as a student, to set up a table at the finish line of a 5K and give a post-event sports massage could anyone tell me what a sports massage was. I asked the clinic instructor what to do, and she shrugged. “Just do what you always do. Maybe add in some stretches.”

So why do I have “Sports Massage” in my business name and on our service menu? As it turns out, the term does describe something useful: a session in which the client is fully clothed. One thing all those “pre-event” and “post-event” massages have in common? They’re performed on athletes wearing workout clothes. Clothed sessions allow for stretching and side-lying work (which is one of the most effective ways to address IT band dysfunction, tibialis posterior issues, and over-tight adductors). For soft tissue work to the lower body, shorts work better than tights, but I encourage clients to wear what makes them comfortable. Looking for a session with more movement and more interaction? Try a Sports Massage.

For questions about Sports Massage, please fill out the contact form or Contact Us.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook.