Tag: goals

What is a Professional Massage?

Just like any service available in an open marketplace, massage therapy services run the spectrum from not-so-good to exceptional. If you’ve ever received a professional massage from more than one therapist, you’ll notice difference in their approach to massage, their training, and how effective the treatment is. A truly professional massage therapist delivers a truly professional massage.

So is your therapist a true professional? Are you getting the best massage therapy service you can get?  Here are ten signs, in no particular order, that you’re probably working with the best. Does your massage therapist measure up?

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Can Massage Improve Athletic Performance?

improveperformResearch suggests that massage has both physiological and emotional benefits both before and after the event which help you have stronger, better, faster athletic performance.

Athletes routinely prepare both physically and mentally prior to an event. Typically they incorporate static and dynamic stretching, warm-up drills and mental imagery. A pre-event massage has been suggested as a strategy to decrease pre-competition anxiety and prepare muscles.

If muscle prep is the goal, pre-event sports massage, performed by qualified massage therapists, works well for many. Sports massage is a more vigorous type of massage that includes a combination of techniques such as joint mobilization, stretching, post isometric relaxation, cross-fiber friction and trigger point massage. The goal of the session is to invigorate muscle tissue and stimulate (not relax) muscles to get ready for fast-twitch response, improve flexibility, and increase strength. This massage typically happens within 72 hours of the event.

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Are You in Control?

backyourselfThe cold season is almost over and you made it through. Lots of energy goes into holiday and cold weather preparation and the actual festivities and plans flash by.  Feeling restless, frustrated, disenchanted, tired and stressed is common after the holiday rush and a wintertime indoors subsides. Many of us break our daily routines, including diet and exercise, during the season and then feel a little “off” by the time Spring comes around.

It turns out nobody is more in control  of your renewal, rebirth and recovery than YOU are and the new year can be a great time to contemplate and resolve to get in touch with yourself again and reach out to seek your passions, your purpose, your dreams, work on your relationships, and think about your wellness.

Here are a few things you can do to help rebalance and regain control after the “cold and hectic times” subside: Continue reading “Are You in Control?”