Massage - Injury Prevention and Parent Time

The value of massaging sore muscles has proven itself in our home. All of us have managed to avoid serious injury and recovered faster from minor injuries thanks to a regular schedule of massages. We've made it a family tradition now and it has become a priceless time with my children. Each night our bedtime routine involves a massage and a lot of talking. It's a great time to talk and listen and at the same time help your child stay injury free.

 We have an electric massager that does all the work. All I have to do is move it around on the right muscles so there's no need to be a graduate from your local massage therapy school. There are two basic types of massages that will help your athlete continue to run hard and fast.

 The first type of rub down focuses on the outer lining of the muscle tissue. Muscles are wrapped in a connective tissue called fascia and helping that tissue to relax is an important step. Lighter massages primarily help relax the outer tissue and secondarily help relax the actual muscle. Our electric massager is really good at doing this and it can be done a regular basis.

The second type of rub down focuses on deep tissue and is much less enjoyable. We use a rolling pin and apply different amounts of pressure on each muscle group. The hamstrings and gluts can handle the most pressure, then your quads (front of legs) and then your calfs. If you press too hard you can bruise your child so I suggest having them first massage you. It will give you a good idea on pressure and movements so you can perfect it on your kids. Muscles have to rebuild from a deep tissue massage so never do this right before a race. Also, have them drink a large cup of water to help flush out the toxins you just released in their body.

The ideal time to do a deep tissue massage and have your kid's legs bounce back with more energy is 3-5 days prior to the race.

More Detail and Resources

www.runbritain.com/massage
www.trackshack.com/massage