Sports massage is the management, manipulation and rehabilitation of soft tissues of the body including muscles, tendons and ligaments.

The techniques used by sports massage practitioners have been developed to ensure effective and efficient results are gained from each massage given.

As participation in sports becomes more popular at all ages, and performances improve from year to year, more is demanded of the athlete. This can mean that performances which were seen as outstanding twenty years ago are now commonplace. Mentally and physically, psychologically and emotionally, athletes are pushing themselves to deliver more and more, and they are looking for innovative and effective ways to improve their performances. Regular Sports massage is part of the programme of the elite sports competitor and its increased availability in clinics and health centres is now making it accessible for everyone.

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.

Sports massage is widely used to treat soft tissue injury. At Stroud Sports Clinic Ltd, all of our practitioners have professional experience, working within a sporting environment.

Sports massage is widely used to treat soft tissue injury. At Stroud Sports Clinic Ltd, all of our practitioners have professional experience, working within a sporting environment. Our professional team 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.

Sports massage is an effective way of preparing for events and caring for the athletes after the event. Effects can be psychological as well as physical. Pre-event massage is used to warm and loosen up the muscular system, and sharpen neuromuscular communication ready for action. It is also seen as a vital part of the routine psychological preparation.

After the event, massage is a popular adjunct to the warming down exercise routine and can in some cases, where a warm down is not possible, replace this altogether. It has the effect of loosening and releasing muscles and increasing localised vascular and lymphatic activity to speed the removal of byproducts of athletic activity, e.g. hydrogen ions (sometimes known as ‘lactic acid’) and the waste products from increased cell metabolism. Massage after a challenging training session or after an event or a match can help to eliminate subsequent muscle soreness, particularly if administered 2 to 6 hours after the event. Psychologically it acts as a ‘closure’ to the event and gives the athlete valuable time to reflect. After a post-event sports massage you will feel physically and mentally relaxed.

You do not need to be a sports performer to benefit from a sports massage. The benefits can also help relieve the many day to day problems, repetitive strain injury, sprains, tension, fatigue, that everyone experiences. Many sports massage practitioners work with a great range of clients in assisting with preventive treatment and injury recovery.

At Stroud Sports Clinic Ltd, you are insuring 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.