Sports Massage Monday

OUCH.

But before I get to the “ouch” I’m going to describe the YUM.

After work last night I went to the pool for a quick 1 mile swim. When I got home, Michael made turkey burgers.

I steamed some broccoli and Michael also made some fries in the oven.

Dinner was filling. Since I hadn’t swam my full 1.25 miles, plus hot tub, plus steam room/sauna, I had time to relax and enjoy dinner before our massages.

I had a glass of Sangiovese wine.

Instead of the relaxation massage I usually get, I asked my therapist to give me a sports massage focusing on my running muscles. I knew I was going to be tight.

The difference between a Swedish massage and a sports massage are basically relaxation vs. focused work.

He spent a lot of time on my legs. I told him about my recent injuries and my training. He worked on my calves and hamstrings for the longest. There was a knot in my right hamstring that had me LEAPING off the massage table when touched. He said that was probably a combination of the tiling we did for the kitchen remodel (squatting, bending, kneeling, stretching etc) and my sacrum injury. He said I probably overcompensated for my injury on the left side and that tightened my right hamstring. 🙁

Jim, my massage therapist, mentioned that he’s also training to learn Thai Massage. He explained that it’s a massage that involves a lot of stretching and palm work. It sounded interesting and the stretching part sounded like something I might need.

He gave me a lot of good stretches to try. First, he said to stand up straight, then cross one leg over the other one and bend at the waist. That will stretch my hamstrings.

Second, he said to lay down and lift my leg. Rotate my ankle inward and then out a few times. Lower the leg to stretch and repeat it. It’s a really good stretch for the hips. I noticed that it worked immediately. It looked sort of like this:

It really worked! I will be incorporating those two into my stretching routine. He also showed me an ankle/calf stretch I could do.

My hips and legs feel MUCH better today.

My massage therapist recommended I do RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevate) when my muscles start feeling locked up. He highly recommended baths with Epsom salts.

QUESTION: Have you ever had a sports or deep tissue massage?