As we head into March and those of you still sticking to your New Year's resolution to 'do more exercise' are feeling the benefits of your recent activities, it's so important to remember to incorporate recovery into your weekly exercise plan.
But what does that actually mean? And why is it important? Active recovery strategies can be anything from:
- Sufficient cool-down and stretching - Yoga is excellent for this and Pilates can also lengthen and realign your muscles.
- Sports massage and relaxation massage therapies - including soft tissue therapy.
- Saunas, steam rooms and plunge pools for contrast therapy.
- Foam rolling as a form of myofascial release (mobilises your connective tissues and iron out your tight bits!)
- Self-trigger point therapy using spikey massage balls to delve into those sore muscular points.
You can book a session with Tanya to learn how to use foam rollers and massage balls correctly, appropriately and specifically for you and to learn which products and types to purchase. All the equipment shown here are available to buy at TDR Academy
Why Should You Attend a Soft Tissue Therapist?
Professionally qualified and fully insured therapists come into their own when your own home management plan get to a point that it isn't as effective as it has been. We've all suffered from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) at one time or another - it typically lasts more than 2-3 days - but if that niggle you're feeling is more than that, and takes more than a week to settle, then the best course of action is to see a professional. We all know it's better to nip things in the bud early on and to help prevent the body's natural process of developing compensation patterns from taking hold and especially if this subconsciously happening, as they are often very subtle. Ultimately this leads to a much longer full recovery and participation in your chosen sport/activity - not what you had in mind when you set your goals this year.
As we've mentioned in previous blogs (Christmas Offer to all Runners & Christmas Offer to all Cyclists), the Sports Massage Association offer great advice and explains the benefits of soft tissue therapy. The techniques used by soft tissue therapists have been developed to ensure effective and efficient results are gained from each massage given. Depending on the application of the techniques, this type of therapy may:
- Improve circulation and lymphatic flow
- Assist in the removal of metabolic waste
- Sedate or stimulate nerve endings, depending on required goals
- Increase or decrease muscle tone, depending on required goals
- Increase or decrease muscle length, depending on required goals
- Remodel scar tissue when required
- Assist in mental preparation for sporting participation
It's also beneficial to people who suffer from many day to day problems, such as repetitive strain injury, sprains, tension, fatigue and used in assisting with preventive treatment to nip developing issues in the bud and limit their progression, and in the later stages of injury recovery.
At TDR Academy we're committed to Therapeutic and Dynamic Recoveries (hence the TDR in TDR Academy) to restore your body so you can get on with your life, your hobbies and your competitions.
Tanya Ross is qualified to the highest level in hands on neuro, musculo, skeletal injury treatment and rehabilitation for both acute and chronic conditions, as well as in Sports and relaxation massage therapies. Her passion, knowledge, experience and time commitment to you will promote your faster recovery - with over 20 years of experience, you are in safe hands. Tanya believes in educating you to try to keep you off her treatment couch.
Sports massage isn't just for Tour de France winners like Stephen Roche, pictured above with Gary
Gary Wilson is our qualified Sports Massage practitioner. His own sporting experiences have taught him not only the benefits of self-care, but also of the value of attending regular sports massage to reduce any issues from building to problems, without you knowing its happening. During your consultation with him, he will create an individual treatment plan with specific stretching advice to help you with your training development and recovery enhancement. Gary can provide you with the regular support you need to keep your muscles working in tip top condition. How often you have a Sports Massage will really depend on your level, frequency and intensity of training and your frequency of home recoveries utilised. If you are training more than 4 or 5 times a week at higher intensities and depending on the sport/activity you may need to see him at least once a month, and less frequently if your schedule is about 3 times a week, meaning a visit to Gary every 2 months. How you feel is important in making this decision - but this feeling has to be compared to the feeling your muscles have about 2-3 days post massage as this is your baseline to compare future build-ups to in tension levels.
Tanya will get you back to full participation as soon as possible and combined with Gary's sports massages - we aim to keep you there!
Contact Tanya on 07879415711 or info@tdracademy.co.uk for further details, to book in for appointments or to arrange purchase of any self help therapy tools. Follow us on Facebook and sign up for our email newsletter (at the bottom of the home page) to be kept up to date on upcoming offers too.