Muscles and Massages

I don’t know much about the different kinds of massages and when to get them as far as training and competing. My question is if you were to get a 20-30 min deep massage on your back/shoulders/traps/arms how much of a negative affect will that have on your explosiveness to swing a bat or club about 30 min-1 hr after the massage? I’m going to take a good guess in saying that it will impair your ability to perform at your highest, am I correct in my assumption?

[quote]Mack wrote:
I don’t know much about the different kinds of massages and when to get them as far as training and competing. My question is if you were to get a 20-30 min deep massage on your back/shoulders/traps/arms how much of a negative affect will that have on your explosiveness to swing a bat or club about 30 min-1 hr after the massage? I’m going to take a good guess in saying that it will impair your ability to perform at your highest, am I correct in my assumption? [/quote]

Hi Mack,

Due to a back injury I had massages almost every day over the summer…I found that especially with deep tissue massages…an hour after the massage, all you want to do is…Sleep!..;)…It seems (that’s how’s it’s explained to me, but I’m by no means a doctor)…that with a deep tissue massage it releases crystals of some sort in your bloodstream…that’s why it’s recommended to drink a gallon of water after the massage to drain those out of your system…Again, I’m by no means a doctor…this is just my 2 pennies worth…

B!

As a proffessional massuer, I can say dont get a massage before any form of explosive exercise as most massages will make feel like going to sleep because they will have released the toxins that your body store’s in your skin and even muscles so your body will be trying to get rid of them making you feel sluggish.
not all massages have this effect but most do.
Fluffy

There are studies that support getting massages AFTER workouts, or on non-workout days to aid in the recovery process but I woudn’t recommend getting one before a workout.

Yeah, when I get one it puts me FAST asleep. She literally has to wake me up to remind me that it’s over. I also happen to have the best masseuse on earth.

Thanks for the replies. So its a fair assumption that the massage took about 10% out of me. Especially being I didn’t drink hardly any water and didn’t stretch that good afterwards.

Don’t forget that the TYPE of massage is very important here too. You’ll quite often hear about track athletes getting stimulatory type massages pre-race, but I doubt that’s what you’re getting with a regular masseur.

Stay strong
MR

I’m a massage therapist focusing on treatment and sports massage not a rub and tug like fluffy. A deep tissue massage will change your mind & muscle proprioception. Your body won’t be comfortable with how "loose the muscles are. I recomend getting a sports massage, that will highten the mind & muscle connection.

Can anyone explain the difference between the two? Is the deep tissue a “harder” type massage that really works the muscles loose and the sports massage just a light rubbing to get the blood flow going?

Deep tissue is slow and compresses and lenghtens the muscles. Pre-event sports is pretty fast with medium pressure and has tapotment (rythmic striking of the muscles) that stimulates blood flow and musclular tone. Post-event sports massage is alittle slower than pre and has stretcing and draining techniques. Sports massage is around 10-15 mins for pre and 20-30 for post