Fitness-related Benefits of Massage


Ask someone their reason for getting a massage and you're likely to hear "because it feels good". We all know that a massage can relieve stress, help to make sore muscles feel better and even reduce anxiety, but can it help us achieve our fitness goals? Research shows that the massage you get to relieve stress can also have a positive effect on your muscle-building capabilities and fitness level.

1. Massage improves circulation and general nutrition of muscles. This appears to be the most valuable fitness-related benefit. Massage is accompanied or followed by an increase interchange of substances between the blood the tissue cells, which increases tissue metabolism. After a muscle is exercised, vital nutrients must be supplied in order for it to increase in size. Massage maximizes the supply of nutrients and oxygen though increased blood flow, which helps the body rebuild itself.

2. Massage improves the range of motion and muscle flexibility. This results in increased power and performance, which helps you work efficiently and with proper intensity to facilitate the body's muscle-building response.

3. Massage helps to shorten recovery time between workouts. Waste products such as lactic and carbonic acid build up in muscles after exercise. Increased circulation to these muscles help to eliminate toxic debris and shorten recovery time.

4. Massage can help prevent over-training. Massage has a relaxing effect on the muscles, as well as a sedative effect on the nervous system. This can prevent over-training syndrome which has limiting effect on muscle building.

5. Massage may aid in fat loss. According to some research, massage may burst the fat capsule in subcutaneous tissue so that the fat exudes and becomes absorbed. In this way, combined with proper nutrition, massage may help in weight loss.

6. Massage helps prevent and even heal injuries. By stretching connective tissue, massage improves circulation to help prevent or break down adhesions. Massage also influences the excretion of certain fluids (nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur) necessary for tissue repair.

While a massage won't build muscle directly, it helps to facilitate the body's rebuilding phase following a workout and influences muscular growth. Getting a massage is just as important as regular workouts and supportive nutrition for a comprehensive fitness program. Great news for those of us who thought building a great body was all hard work!

Before making an appointment with the first massage therapist you encounter, however, be sure they are a qualified bodywork practitioner. Ask for referrals, professional training information, and certification credentials from a reputable agency, such as the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB).

About The Author

Jon Gestl, CSCS, is a Chicago personal trainer and fitness instructor who specializes in helping people get in shape in the privacy and convenience of their home or office. He is a United States National Aerobic Champion silver and bronze medalist and world-ranked sportaerobic competitor and editor of the fitness ezine "Inspired Informed and Inshape."


More Resources

Getting into The Zone with The Alexander Technique
Have you ever attempted to perform a simple act and completely failed? From completely mistiming a shot to losing balance at a crucial moment, the outcome may have fallen short of our intention and expectation. In contrast there are times when everything goes just right, every act is carried out to perfection with little perceived effort.
Portrait of a Medical Intuitive
I am a Medical Intuitive in the San Francisco Bay area. As the name states, Medical Intuition is a science and art, where the practitioner uses a highly developed sense of intuition to "look" into the body and evaluate it on energetic levels.
Ayurveda - Principles & Practice
Ayurveda which has been evolved around 600 BC, apart from treating ailments concentrated more in its prevention. This was followed by the Aryans & Dravidians who were inhabiting India and has been practiced ever since.
Make Your Own HGH - While You Sleep!
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) has long been viewed as a remedy for aging and the diseases associated with the aging process. Research published in the AMA Journal of August 16, 2000 links sleep disorders to a lack of HGH.
Plantar Warts Treatment - Is There A Natural Medication Which Gets Rid Of Plantar Warts?
Plantar Warts are growths which occur on the bottom of your feet and are very common. They are caused by the Human Papillomavirus which allows some skin cells to grow faster than others, thus causing a growth, called a wart.
Gestalt Therapy And Hypnosis
The Gestalt approach to therapy can be termed "phenomenological-existential" as it is concerned with an awareness of the here-and-now, working away from concepts and towards pure awareness (Clarkson, 1989). By the client becoming aware of their thoughts, feelings, etc the goal is for the individual to achieve insight into the situation under examination.
Why Detox?
For most of my life I considered myself fairly healthy. I was not overweight, very slim infact.
Back Pain, Joint Pain, Knee Pain, Arthritis and a Host of Other Pain Ailments You Never Have To Suff
"The smallest pain in our little finger gives us more concern than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings." William Hazlitt [1778-1830.
How Dirty Dishes And Stale Bread Saved The World
Home Remedies - Facts or Quacks?That's what I recently asked myself. Myths and legends often have their basis in a grain of truth.
Magnetic Therapy: The Facts (and Some Myths)
Is magnet therapy regarded yet as a mainstream therapy? I consider it is not and through this series of articles I hope to raise awareness by examining a number of issues that have stood in the way of mass acceptance.There is a useful parallel to be drawn between magnetic therapy and acupuncture.
How To Find Your Way To Healthy Longevity
As the old saying goes, are you "a picture of health"? You may have a problem answering this question, but it's important to know just where you stand on this issue. I guess we all would like to be the healthiest person we can be but it's not always possible.
Classical Music Therapy
Music, more than entertainment, has played an instrumental role in healing and harmonizing the mind, body and spirit. For thousands of years, the Vedic culture has used sound and music for body and mind balancing, health enhancement, healing promotion and encouragement of heightened awareness.
Focus Your Light: Earning Money From Home When You Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome /Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome /Fibromyalgia makes you extremely tired, exhausted and weak. It means you only have a fraction of the waking hours that most people enjoy - and even those waking hours are often spent feeling exhausted and with brain fog.
What is Hypnosis?
"Hypnosis" refers to the power that words and ideas have when we surround these words and ideas with our complete attention. A hypnotist or an operator delivers words and ideas.
Constipation Home Remedies Using Juices
Apple Juice, Figs and RaisinsHere's another constipation home remedy using apple juice with other fruit. Eat it the first thing in the morning before breakfast.
Why DO the Japanese Have the Longest Lifespan? Part 2: Live the Lifestyle
Why do the Japanese have the longest lifespan? Last month you learned to eat the things Japanese people eat, and now you will learn how to live like they live. Fast, long, and lively best describes a usual day in Japan.
How I Overcame Anxiety/Panic Attacks
Has this ever happened to you, out of the blue, for apparently no reason at all? You suddenly start experiencing any or all of the following symptoms: shortness of breath, chest pain or discomfort such as tightness, lightheaded, dizziness, faint, palpitations, a pounding heart, sweating, trembling or shaking, a choking sensation, nausea or stomach cramps, numbness or a tingling sensation, chills or hot flashes.Then you experience a fear of losing control or goingcrazy and even a fear of dying.
Gout Pain Relief With Cherry Power - How To Ease Pain By Eating Fruit
We can all learn something new every day! And good doctors are constantly alert to learning from all of their patients. It takes a lot to surprise me after twenty years in medicine but - I hold my hand up - this is a new one!I had never heard of cherry juice or fresh cherries being used to treat gout or for gout pain relief until I heard it recently from a patient (who had been told it by his pharmacist, who had heard it from a relative etc etc).
Why Your Search for Pain Relief Needs a Strategy
If you're like most of us who have known chronic pain, you've tried one thing after another to ease your suffering. Here are three reasons why working with your subconscious and having a well-defined strategy may increase your chances of success.
Natural Remedies and Prevention of Constipation
Constipation is a problem that affects many Americans every day. Constipation is mainly due to poor eating habits, insufficient exercise, not getting enough fiber and not drinking enough water.

More Alternative Information:

Related Articles

Discover The Missing Key to Improving Your Health
Do you know the top ten causes for death? You will recognize them all.Here they are?1.
Spring Cleaning with Nontoxic Cleaners
Spring cleaning goes beyond normal everyday cleaning. It's a major project of home revitalization: to make everything new by removing dust and dirt, to make sure everything is in good repair, and to put things in order, so that you will have everything in your household in working condition for the coming year.
A Natural Body Detox Can Dramatically Improve Your Health
Detoxification therapy is a completely natural and necessary process to get you healthy and feeling your best! If you've never done an official detox program, you are long overdue for a cleansing experience that will renew your energy, reduce food cravings, improve your metabolism, give you radiant skin, better your sleep, and strengthen your immune system.What is detoxification?Detoxification is the process of either clearing toxins from the body or neutralizing them.
Consultation Guidelines For Hypnotherapy
The initial consultation may well be the most crucial aspect of hypno-psychotherapy, if not all therapies. Everything from the interpersonal dynamic to the eventual success of the intervention has a basis in this first meeting between the client and the therapist.
Aromatherapy at Home: Beating the Cold Bug
It seems that nearly everyone I know has been either fighting or recovering from a cold or flu these last few weeks. And many of my clients have been asking how essential oils can help them prevent or heal their illnesses.
Fruits, Juices, and Food for Relieving Hemorrhoids Part II
Eating the right kind of food and following good eating habits will speed up your healing of your hemorrhoids. If you have a diet that is hard to digest and moves slowly through your colon, then, expect to have constipation which will encourage formation of hemorrhoids or prevent the their healing.
Fight Cancer With Broccoli Sprouts
Mom was right to insist on us eating our vegetables. Sheknew they built health and gave us the minerals we need.
Evolution of Aromatherapy
The Origin of AromatherapySince the beginning - from the time of the ancient civilisations, the knowledge of the effectiveness and use of aromatic essential oils has handed down from generation to generation, and across different communities. Aromatherapy is a manifestation of humanity's profound wisdom.
Colon Cleansing
Colonics are one of the best types of medicine. They clean up deposits of old toxemia.
Eucalyptus Oil for Colds and Flu
Recently I came down with a cold, flu, and some heavy chest congestion. My 8-year daughter also became sick.
3 Natural Cures For A Migraine Headache
Only a migraine sufferer understands the pain. Regardless of how the migraine starts the end result is the same - excrutiating pain that renders you helpless.
Pranic Therapy - Part I
Pranic Therapy Part I - An IntroductionPranic Therapy is an alternative system of Medicine using therapy with the Universal Stream of Consciousness, the Cosmic Prana.Pranic Therapy can be effectuated by proper knowledge of the psycho- physical organism, physical and mental discipline and opening all our channels to the Cosmic Prana.
Lead Poisoning in Environment and Our Children
Pollution is generallyy defined as the release of harmful environmental contaminants. Pollution can take two major forms: local pollution and global pollution.
Treat Osteoporosis Naturally
Osteoporosis is a condition that faces every baby boomer; man or woman. Women are more prone to getting this after menopause, but men can also have "porous bones.
Why Do So Many People Seem To Have Allergies?
Allergies and asthma arise from loss of the body's natural resistance to allergens, often beginning with early exposure to secondary smoke, industrial chemicals and asbestos, and the incredibly intensive chemical farming and industrial treatment, of the foods we eat, and fabrics we wear and sleep on.Our ancestors did not suffer these maladies as pervasively as we do, because modern industry since WWII has chemically saturated everything: our homes, fabrics, foods, and air.
Mercury Detoxification
An interesting area of alternative medicine that is advancing rapidly is mercury detox treatment. Mercury is toxic to humans.
Just The Tea FAQs: Health Benefits (Part I)
Hands up all those who can't get through the day without their shots of coffee..
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental and emotional condition that has its origins in a physical and/or mentally traumatic event that occurred anywhere from a few days to several years in the past. PTSD can develop by one overwhelming trauma as in 9/11 or by a series of smaller traumas or abuses occurring over several years such as living in an alcoholic home.
Injured Athletes and Acupuncture
I have always been amazed at the clinical results that I have seen with injured athletes and acupuncture. For a while, my wife and I worked closely with a number of athletes from a world championship athletic team, the Santa Barbara Condors At the world class level, these athletes would be compared to world cup soccer players in the way their body is used and abused.
Starbucks Green Tea Frappachinos, Can They Prevent Cancer?
Starbucks now offers the Green Tea Frappachinos, yes I had one and they are very tasty indeed. We all know green tea helps prevent many types of cancer, not to mention a host of other things.