Simone Crocker, another one of C1 Chiropractic Health Centre’s sports massage therapists adds:
Post-event means after any activity that has been at a high enough intensity to raise your heart rate and engage your muscles in an active way for a sustained period. It could be a 5k, cycling sportive or a good old rock climb but either way, if you have been doing a sporting event, (hopefully one which you have responsibly trained for) chances are your going to ache a bit afterwards (especially if you’ve put your heart and soul into it).
The ache we feel in our muscles after engaging them in activity is known as delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS. It’s a term used to describe the plethora of effects that exercise has, namely the breakdown and rebuild of lean tissue, the metabolizing of energy in order to move and the physical contraction and flexion of muscles. All of this is brilliant stuff because it staves away heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis to name but a few common evils but how do we get rid of that annoying stiffness and return back to our flexible happy selves?
Post event massage stimulates the circulation to remove all the waste product that builds up as a result of exercise. There are so many theories about what causes DOMS: lactate acid build up, calcium imbalance, pH imbalance in the muscles but either way, massage can reduce the stiffness and also massively reduce recovery time (by up to 5 times apparently). It can also encourage repair of damaged tissue by improving circulation, reduce inflammation and stop any painful muscle spasm. Using gentle active and passive stretching techniques can also detect any injury as a result of sustained activity.
Its not to be underestimated: I did my first half marathon 2 years ago and 12 hours later sat on a 9 hour flight with little attention to stretching. For the first 3 days of my holiday I could barely walk, which was by far one of the most stupid things I have ever done.
A sports massage therapist will also be able to pass on handy stretches to keep you supple in the days following the event, so you can get right back into your regular training and do it all over again!