Thursday, September 24, 2009

Sports Massages: Crank Up Recuperation With A Massage Chair

By George Heartfield

When you think of massage, you think of an afternoon at the spa, being pampered with a mud bath, feeling the heat of the sauna, and rejuvenating your skin with fresh peels and wraps. But there's another side-an increasing trend called sports therapy massage. Massage is a natural choice for warming up muscles prior to physical activity. Massage chairs are being built that can perform many sports related massages. Shiatsu massage chairs are assembling an arsenal of massage therapies into their chairs.

Athletes around the world are reaping the benefits of massage. Sports massages are designed to prepare the body for more strenuous activity. These therapies are much more than just for relaxing after the game. Massage chair manufacturers are adding more massage features that are aimed at both amateur and professional athletes alike.

Doctors have learned that a sports therapy massage for athletes before, during and after a game or match can limit injury and contribute to faster recovery when injuries do occur. This is because sports therapy massages loosen muscles increasing their flexibility while increasing circulation allowing them to metabolize fuel to enhance performance. This cuts down on sports-related injuries such as a pulled muscle, sprains and fractures. Other benefits for athletes are improved range of motion, increased bodily fluid flow, scar tissue break-down and endorphin releases.

Many of the high end massage chairs from Sanyo, Panasonic, and Omega have built in features specifically for athletes. These shiatsu massage chairs come with a variety of massage therapies including Reflexology, Swedish, Shiatsu, Acupressure and Deep Tissue massage. Sports therapy massage for athletes is as integral to a serious sport regimen as lifting weights. Massage increases fluid circulation, reduces pain, and speeds recovery after an injury.

Are you a Weekend Warrior or a Professional Athlete? Professional athletes have a daily regimen to keep them in top physical shape. Weekend Warriors by definition play intermittently and therefore, are more at risk to injury. Everyone loves an active sport such as as tennis, golf, basketball, or perhaps softball. Whatever your sport, proper warm up is important. Muscles need to be stretched and warmed up prior to vigorous activity. The Omega Montage Premier massage chair come equiped with a lower body stretch function. This lower body traction functions utilizes air pressure to hold your feet in the footrest. The footrest is first raised. The footrest then goes down to each of 3 lower positions. As it lowers, it stretches and elongates the muscles from the hips down. Proper stretching increases athletic performance and minimizes the chance of injury.

Sport Massage Therapy combines both the Swedish and Shiatsu techniques. Swedish techniques use long, flowing strokes which enhances circulation and the flow of blood. Shiatsu stimulates the acupressure points while applying a gentle squeezing action to particular areas of the body. Shiatsu relaxes the muscles and relieves tension. Massage chair recliners use these techniques for the upper body and use an air compression system for the lower body. The air compression system gently squeezes, holds and releases the muscles of the lower body. These shiatsu chairs contain many strategically placed airbags. The Panasonic EP-3222 massage recliner uses an incredible 33 airbags built into both the seat and footrest to perform lower body massages.

If you are looking for a great way to get ready before your strenuous activity, these chairs can be a very practical alternative to getting a professional masseuse. Even sports like golf, which do not seem too strenuous, actually put significant stress on the body. In golf, for example, one swings using the muscles on one side of the body in a singular direction. This causes you to over-utilize some muscle groups and under-utilize other muscle groups. How many golfers complain about bad backs? Too many to count! That simple swinging motion done repetitively can cause muscle and tendon damage if you do not warm up and warm down properly. An invigorating shiatsu massage before and after golf will make you feel better and might even take a couple strokes off your game.

Many massage chair recliners provide a very thorough massage therapy which helps one to relax, reduce tension and warm up the body prior to sports activity. Although shiatsu massage chairs are not cheap. Think of the alternative, injury. If you could avoid an injury, how much is that worth? The cost benefit of having a massage chair is really helping to reduce your risk of injury and enhancing your performance. Whether you are a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, you can get significant benefit from a shiatsu massage chair recliner.

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