Aftercare
You will always get a personal consultation before you get your first sports massage from us in Watford, Northwood, Hemel Hempstead, St Albans or any part of Hertfordshire. This consultation is a highly important step in the process. Firstly, to establish your medical history and learn a little about your lifestyle. Your therapist can then discuss your posture, exercise, allergies, work patterns and any stress indicators with you. This enables them to determine the most appropriate course and focus on your course of treatment.
Aftercare is incredibly important too. After you have had any kind of sports massage, deep tissue massage or therapeutic massage in Watford – or anywhere else – you should consider:
- Drinking lots of water
- Avoiding drinking alcohol
- Eating a light meal
- Keeping warm
You may also find it helpful to consider the following aspects of aftercare when exercising. Building them into your exercise regime in addition to your massage will help you prevent injury, soreness and maximise your potential for gains and performance.
Sports injury prevention
Safeguarding yourself against injury is probably the top way to ensure ongoing high performance in your chosen sport or type of exercise. Most professional athletes these days include sports massage in their training regimen for very obvious reasons. Our program for sports massage in Watford will help you with mobilisation and assist you in stretching muscles to their full length and potential without harm by stimulating your lymphatic system.
You can also get clear advice regarding stretching, posture, your diet and many other aspects which will lead to improved aerobic or sporting performance during your session.
- Faster recovery
- Pain reduction
- Improved posture
- Improved circulation
- Injury prevention
- Greater flexibility and range of motion
- Improved performance
- Reduction of stress
- Greater energy
- Increased confidence
- Functional muscle balance
- Improved self-awareness
Warm-up
Your warm-up is a crucial part of your exercise or training regimen. The vital nature of a warm-up when it comes to preventing sports injury should also not be underestimated. Warming up gets your body and your mind ready for the physical activity you are about to engage in. Make sure that you include all of the muscles which are about to be used in the activity – not just the main ones. A proper warm-up will:
- Raise your body's core temperature.
- Increase your muscle temperature, making them looser and more supple.
- Boost your heart rate and respiratory rate.
- Deliver more oxygen and nutrients to working muscles via increased blood flow.
Cooldown
Your cooldown is the flipside of your warm-up and equally important. Many people tend to skip it, thinking that they can get by without – after all, you are usually tired after exercise and it might seem like a rest would be more important right now. Nothing could be further from the truth…
Your warm-up should prepare you for strenuous physical activity. Conversely, your cooldown should promote recovery by returning your body to a pre-exercise state. When you are working out properly, muscle fibres, tendons and ligaments will all be damaged and metabolic waste products will build up. An effective cooldown will:
- Help you prevent post-exercise muscle soreness or Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).
- Assist in your battle to prevent sports injury
Stretching and flexibility
Stretching is a simple yet critical part of preparing for exercise. When performed before your workout, it will both enhance your athletic performance and reduce your risk of injury. When also carried out afterwards, it will minimise the muscle soreness which you feel post-exercise. This is especially useful in the first few weeks of a new training regime when it feels difficult to even walk down the stairs every morning! Stretching properly will:
- Increase the length of your muscles.
- Reduce the amount of muscle tension which is created.
- Increase blood flow and remove metabolic waste products.
- Improve your range of movement.
By stretching regularly you will improve your posture, develop your body awareness, improve your coordination, promote good circulation and increase the amount of energy you have available as well as making it easier for you to relax, and thus reduce any stress you might feel. If stress reduction is a major concern of yours, it might be worth asking us about getting a relaxing back massage in Watford – possibly even in addition to your usual course of treatment.
