The History of Sports Massage

The History of Sports Massage

Modern sports massage techniques quickly adapt to meet the needs of the athlete and their choice of activities. The treatment takes place either before or after an event to achieve the desired result. Sports massage reduces fatigue and speeds recovery following exercise. Before an event, the techniques increase range of movement, boost endurance, and prepare the body for the upcoming workout to reduce the potential for injury.

As detailed and useful as the therapy is, it may surprise people to learn that sports massage is not a modern creation. Athletes have benefitted from this type of vital for thousands of years. Some of the techniques may have changed over the centuries, but the purpose of sports massage therapy has always been about helping athletes to perform at their best.

Ancient Athletic Therapy

The use of massage was a vital part of the preparation for athletes in ancient Greece and Rome. Exercise and massage were used by people that took part in a variety of sporting events. Roman athletes that competed in the original Olympic games received the therapy before their competitions, as well as after they quickly ended.

Many Asian cultures used massage to improve the physical condition of dancers and practitioners of martial arts. Therapeutic massage was a healing technique detailed in writing in China as early as 8,000 BC. Chinese schools that taught the touch techniques opened in 100 AD. Indian healers also used a form of touch therapy, similar to modern practices, to boost the overall health of athletes and others.

Early European Practices 

Around the 17th century, scientists and doctors started to document the value of massage and the benefits it had for the body. In the 18th century, European athletes began to use touch therapy as a method of recovery and training. The greatest advances at the time occurred in Sweden with the Swedish Gymnastic Movement. A physician, Per Henrik Ling, created the process that includes various techniques like pressing, stroking and squeezing.

Around 1900, Finland opened the Finnish School of Massage and would use the lessons taught in these classes to help increase the abilities of their skilled and highly competitive athletes. Many terms for specific massage techniques were developed during this time and remain a part of professional massage terminology today.

Modern Techniques Begin

The start of the 20th century was when athletes across Europe and in the United States finally began to hear about and have access to the types of massage therapies used by many in other parts of the world. The Swedish Massage System, an adaption of the Swedish Gymnastic Movement, became the first established type of sports massage.

Massage eventually became more common in all corners of the developed world. Australian Aborigines used the techniques during their football games. A Finnish runner credited massage for helping him to win 5 gold medals in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. The runner, Paavo Nurmi, won two races in one day with only a 30-minute break between the events.

Jack Meagher, an athlete and future pioneer of sports massage therapy, learned a new set of techniques from a German POW around 1945. The techniques learned were different from the Swedish Massage Therapy that was already known by the athlete. Meagher later authored books on the techniques that gave many massage therapists and athletic trainers their first look at the potential of sports massage.

By the last third of the twentieth century, the United States and others around the world were taking seriously the benefits of sports massage. The Soviet Union included the therapy into the training regimens of their Olympic athletes, who gained a lot of attention for their performances in global competitions. Another record-setting Finnish runner, Lasse Viren, drew attention as well for receiving daily massages.

Current Massage Practices

Today, medical doctors often recommend massage for their patients for the treatment of injury and illness. The therapy has become a respected medical service, but also a trusted form of sports training and preparation. Many athletes around the world now receive daily massages during their active seasons, and some continue to do so all year.

Many techniques in modern massage are newly developed and based on in-depth studies of the human body. The developers adopted the systems based on how the body heals to help boost circulation, increase flexibility and encourage faster muscle repair and toxin elimination. Many other techniques in modern massage copy ancient practices that have proven as effective as centuries-old records once reported.

Athletes that want to perform at their best need to include a lot of steps in their training regimen. Most have diet plans, workout schedules, and much more. Massage is an important step that athletes should not ignore. Only therapists trained specifically in sports massage should perform the techniques to ensure that the individual receives the most effective treatment.

Certification in sports massage requires a therapist to complete an accredited general massage course before finishing an AMTA National Sports Massage Certification Program. Many therapists also gain additional certification when they complete the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

About the Author

Eugene Wood is a leading massage therapist serving Nassau County. NY. Learn more by visiting his website at https://www.eugenewoodmassage.com/