W What is it? Sports Massage is the management, manipulation and rehabilitation of soft tissues of the body including muscles, ligaments and tendons. The techniques used by sports massage practitioners have been developed to ensure effective and efficient results are gained from each massage given. The reported benefits of Sports Massage include: Improve circulation & lymphatic flow Assist in the removal of metabolic waste Sedate or stimulate nerve endings Increase or decrease muscle tone Increase or decrease muscle length Remodel scar tissue when required Assist in mental preparation for sporting participation
To benefit from a sports massage you do not need to be a sports performer. If you are a sports performer, of any level, a sports specific massage can be beneficial at various stages of participation. For example: The conditioning / training phase Pre competition Inter competition Post competition Post travel Injury prevention Injury recovery Regardless of your experiences in sport or exercise whether you exercise socially or compete to an international level - sports massage may have something to offer you. Members of the Sports Massage Association will be able to identify anyone for whom sports massage would be ill-advised or detrimental to their short or long-term, well being. They will assess each individual and provide the appropriate massage techniques, and advise on alternative action if required. There are many practitioners that work with a great range of clients. The benefits above can also help relieve many day to day problems that everyone experiences. By ensuring you use an SMA accredited practitioner, you ensure that you will be receiving an individually tailored, high quality massage. Depending on the type and timing of activity these benefits can be achieved for anyone. Courtesy of the SMA | 
