The benefits of massage in bodybuilding may increase your competitiveness by enhancing your performance and helping you reach your physical potential. The effects of hard training and injuries can impair your bodybuilding development. Massage can combat the negative effects of bodybuilding and might even help you gain greater muscle mass, develop a more proportional and symmetrical physique, and improve your stage presence for competition judges.
Range of Motion
Muscle tightness limits range of motion, and lifting with tight muscles can lead to injury. Massage stretches bundles of your muscle fibers lengthwise and sideways to improve tissue elasticity. Massage treatments help release tension and pressure by stretching the sheath or fascia around your muscles. Muscular scar tissue can promote inflexibility and increase your risk of injury and pain. Massage can restore mobility by breaking down scar tissue caused by overtraining, previous injuries or trauma.
Recovery
Muscles need recovery nutrients to repair damage and grow for bodybuilding. Massage speeds up your recovery time by increasing muscle tissue permeability and opening micro-circulation. A deep massage increases tissue permeability by opening pores that enable fluids and nutrients to pass through more effectively. This removes waste products, such as lactic acid, that accumulate while training and inhibit muscular contraction.
Muscle Tone
Massage supports a well-defined bodybuilding physique by increasing circulation that improves your muscle tone. Damaged or tight muscle tissues do not hold blood well and diminish your muscle tone. Your massage therapist may use a pumping technique to move fluid through blood vessels and lymph nodes. Pumping involves increasing the pressure at the front of the stroke to create a vacuum effect in your vessels. This improves muscle tone by helping damaged and tight tissues get nutrients required for growth and repair.
Sport Injury Prevention
You can treat or prevent injuries while bodybuilding by getting a regular sports massage. Find a sports massage therapists who studied sports therapy, physiotherapy or sports rehabilitation, and have him administer massages to treat or prevent injuries related to bodybuilding. Skilled sports massage therapists can identify and treat muscle tightness as well as trigger points and scar tissues that might increase your risk of injury.
Psychological
Pre-event massages also benefit bodybuilders. Receiving a massage before a bodybuilding competition can improve your performance by enhancing your mental state. A massage can boost your level of confidence and diminish any accumulated stress that developed as a result of your bodybuilding training. Feeling confident and relaxed before a competition will reflect in your performance.
References
Writer Bio
Miguel Cavazos is a photographer and fitness trainer in Los Angeles who began writing in 2006. He has contributed health, fitness and nutrition articles to various online publications, previously editing stand-up comedy and writing script coverage as a celebrity assistant. Cavazos holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and political science from Texas Christian University.