How many of you have had a massage before a meet?
How many days before?
What kind of massage?
What did you conclude?
Did it make a difference? How?
The more information you can give the better.
Thanks!
Eric
I assume you mean a PL meet. I’ve never competed in that, so I can’t say. I can tell you this, my wife is training to be a massage therapist. According to her(and I’m not saying she is an expert), if you do any massage, make sure it is a licensed massage therapist, and communicate to him/her why you are getting the massage(ie, pre-event relaxation, whatever).
Make sure you get an athletic pre-event massage(or whatever teh actual name is). What this does is loosens you up a little, and gets the blood flowing. You don’t want any kind of deep massage before any kind of athletic event, since it will interfere with power production and strength levels.
I don’t think it would be a good idea to get any deep tissue work done in the week before your meet, you don’t want to be “recovering” from it at that time. A soothing, lighter massage can help to relax you a day or two before. A shorter, more vigorous “sports” massage can help refresh you and help you feel loose and ready to go just a few hours before your event.
Look for a licensed, certified massage therapist and clearly explain what you are looking for. Don’t be afraid to speak up during your massage if it doesn’t feel right for any reason.
You can check out www.amtamassage.org to find a therapist in your area. Good luck!
Save your massage for after the meet. Before just ice, stretch, ems, and rest.
I don’t have any direct answers to your questions but here’s a link to a thread from back in October that might help a little.