Massage and Cycling

There seems to be some confusion around Sports Massage and what a sports massage is. Clients often ask for a sports massage indicating they want a very firm or hard massage as opposed to a relaxation massage  - apparently soft. Sports massage is in fact a remedial massage that is designed specifically to aid in the performance and recovery of athletes in their sporting pursuits. Weekend warriors and professionals alike. 

Over the past few years I have done some work with a group of amazing cyclists in the Hawaiian Ride for Youth event - cycling over 700kms from Albany or Jurien Bay to Perth. Whilst its a lot of fun for everyone involved,  the cycling part is gruelling and after a few days of riding up to 150kms each day, the riders end up on our massage tables with all sorts of broken sore and tired body parts. 

For anyone considering a long distance sports event such as a charity ride like the HRFY, remedial massage can and should play an important part of your preparation and post event recovery. Here are some tips about sports massage and cycling...

Cycling - it's an usual position to be seated in for hours on end, not unlike poor desk posture cycling ticks a few poor-posture boxes as well. Hyper extended neck, hunched shoulders, curved upper back, and sitting for extended periods can all lead to some very tight muscles and that deep burning achey pain especially in the shoulders, neck and upper back. Even though its the legs doing most of the hard work, if the back and neck pain isn't resolved, sitting on the bike becomes very difficult. So a remedial massage to ease the tension in the upper back, neck and shoulders will ease and reduce the pain. Stretches and adapting your cycling position will help  prevent this kind of tension in future. 

Riding long distances will obviously affect the legs as well - depending on your technique, quads, hammies and calf muscles are likely to burn. ITB can get involved too and the hip flexors are also likely to be on fire (usually presents as lower back pain). Tight, shortened overactive muscles cannot function effectively - knots inhibit the natural contraction and lengthening action of the muscle and a build up of toxins from being constantly overactive inhibits blood flow and oxygen.  When the main muscles are not working effectively smaller muscles are then needed to support the body and perform in a way they are not designed for, this can lead to injury but at the very least will minimise your performance - speed, hill climbs, and sheer grunt work on the pedals will all be affected. Similarly when we don't use our muscles properly (for example our glutes), we won't be able to perform to our best capacity. Sports massage to ease out the tension, lengthen the muscles and activate or calm overactive muscles means that the legs will be able to function properly, perform to their capacity and will get you back on the bike ready for the weekend hill ride!