Massage Therapy alleviates pain, fatigue and improves your performance!
What is DOMs? Delayed onset muscle soreness – which is delayed onset of your muscles being sore – it occurs within the first 24 hours after strenuous or exhaustive exercise and you will feel it more between 24 -72 hour period (Guo, 2017).
So you might feel like
- Sitting down and getting up off the chair is a struggle
- Walking down/up stairs
- Tentatively taking a few steps after sitting down for a while
DOMS comes with
– muscle swelling and reduction in performance ( (Kargarfard et al., 2016; De Marchi et al., 2017)
– decreased range of motion (Cheung et al., 2003; Lavender and Nosaka, 2006)
Why it happens? It’s unclear. The most accepted theory is that there is mechanical damage induced by exercise, which creates inflammation (to heal the damage). Which then results in your achy symptoms.
Our qualified massage therapists can be used to alleviate your symptoms of DOMS and help you move better.
Massage Therapy aids in:
- Increasing skin and muscle temperature
- Increasing blood and lymphatic flow
- Kick starts the rest and digest system (parasympathetic nervous system)
This results in great physical benefits such as:
- Relief of muscle tension, stiffness and soreness;
- Reduction of muscle soreness;
- Increased range of motion.
There is also psychological benefits:
- You feel relaxed;
- Puts you in a better mood;
- Reduces fatigue.
Robust evidence shows Massage Therapy is effective for alleviating DOMS, as well as increasing muscle performance. Especially after 48 hours post exercise. (Gou, 2017)
References:
Cheung K., Hume P., Maxwell L. (2003). Delayed onset muscle soreness: treatment strategies and performance factors. Sports Med. 33, 145–164. 10.2165/00007256-200333020-00005De Marchi T., Schmitt V. M., da Silva Fabro D. C., da Silva L. L., Sene J., Tairova O., et al. . (2017). Phototherapy for improvement of performance and exercise recovery: comparison of 3 commercially available devices. J. Athl. Train. 52, 429–438. 10.4085/1062-6050-52.2.09
Guo, J., Li, L., Gong, Y., Zhu, R., Xu, J., Zou, J., & Chen, X. (2017). Massage Alleviates Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness after Strenuous Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in Physiology, 8, 747. http://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00747
Kargarfard M., Lam E. T., Shariat A., Shaw I., Shaw B. S., Tamrin S. B. (2016). Efficacy of massage on muscle soreness, perceived recovery, physiological restoration and physical performance in male bodybuilders. J. Sports Sci. 34, 959–965. 10.1080/02640414.2015.1081264
Lavender A. P., Nosaka K. (2006). Changes in fluctuation of isometric force following eccentric and concentric exercise of the elbow flexors. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 96, 235–240. 10.1007/s00421-005-0069-5