Should I Get Sports Massage Immediately After a Run/marathon?
Running, jogging and marathons are becoming more and more popular – they’re something that doesn’t need a lot of gears (just running clothes and shoes) and you dont have to wait for anyone – you can jog indoor, outdoor, night or day time.
Like all sports, we usually recommend individuals to
- train gradually over a period of time instead of increasing speed, distance and duration in a short time
- using the right gears that fit you well
- you can consult a running or sports physio to make sure that your running gait is on point and prehab to prevent injuries
- and of course, regular sports massage is great for muscle performance and recovery…
…especially if you tend to sit a lot
The few most common question with regards to sports massage that patients often ask us:
Contents
Should I get a sports massage before or after a run?
Okay so this is 2 questions.
Firstly, yes you can consider going for a sports massage 1-2 days before a marathon or long-distance run to loosen up the muscles before the run and to sort out any tight knots. To be safe, I prefer to get a sports massage 2-3 days before a run because sometimes I may get a DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) from the muscle work and it makes running just a little more sore.
I’ll answer the second part of the question of after the run in the next point below.
Can I go for sports massage immediately after a good run or marathon?
Short and direct answer is not within the first two to four hours at least (again, to be safe, at least one day after may be better).
When you run a marathon/race (this applies to any sports events like weight lifting, spin classes, cycling, sprinting, football, dance etc), your body uses its energy stores for performance, and lots of lactic acid is created as a by-product of muscle performance and use.
And if you choose to have a sports massage just after finishing a grueling race or sporting event, you may end up “spreading” that lactic acid all over your muscle and body, which may cause a lot more cellular damage, leading to:
- increased general inflammation
- increased general muscle soreness
for the next couple of days.
Give your body at least four hours after a sporting event to naturally breakdown that lactic acid (and hydrating with fluids to flush them out of your system), and your body will rapidly return the muscles and body to its normal pH levels, and then you can go for the sports massage which will be great for muscle recovery.
What else can I do to decrease my post-run/sports muscle soreness?
Some other things you can do:
- Drink lots of water + going for gentle walks to help circulate and flush out that excess lactic acid
- Avoid lotions that have heating or menthol in them as they can cause more inflammation
- Sports massage four hours after a race, and if you’d like, 2-3 days before a race
- Once you’re hydrated and eating as normal, you can also consider taking an anti-inflammatory medicine or supplement (ideally, non-steroidal) to help
- Some patients swear by hydrating salts be it bath or ingesting
Where To Next?
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