Massage And An Active Lifestyle
DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Something most of us have experienced at some point in our lives. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. It’s that nagging pain felt after exercising. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, delayed soreness typically begins to develop 12 to 24 hours after exercise has been performed. DOMS may produce the greatest pain between 24 and 72 hours after the exercise has been performed.
You don’t have to be a professional athlete to benefit from a sports massage. A sports massage can be useful for anyone who engages in physical activity. Remember that long golf weekend or the pickleball tournament in Punta Gorda, FL? 
It is not just for the weekend warrior that over exerted themselves but has lasting benefits for those who exercise on a regular basis or even seasoned athletes preparing or recovering from a competition.
Sports massage therapy can prevent delayed onset muscle soreness by encouraging blood and lymph flow throughout the body, while reducing or eliminating muscle fatigue. Sports massage can be used to improve athletic performance, speed recovery, and can be utilized by all individuals who participate in any athletic and/or exercise program to help improve conditioning and maintain peak performance.
Research has shown that in relation to exercise and athletic participation massage can:
- Reduce muscle tension
- Help athletes monitor muscle tone
- Promote relaxation
- Reduce muscle hypertonicity
- Increase range of motion
- Improve soft tissue function
- Support recovery from the transient immunosuppression state
- Support the recovery of heart rate variability and diastolic blood pressure after high-intensity exercise.
- Decrease muscle stiffness and fatigue after exercise
- Improve exercise performance<
- Decrease delayed onset muscle soreness
- Be the most efficient intervention for maintaining maximal performance time in subsequent exercise tests when combined with active recovery from maximal exercise
- Reduce serum creatine kinase post exercise
- Reduce swelling
- Reduce breathing pattern disorders
- Enhance athletic performance
- May help prevent injuries when massage is received regularly
