The secrets to successful self-massage at home – There’s nothing like relaxing after a workout other than planning a massage at home. Self-massaging helps to limit muscle tension and promotes recovery. Discover the right gestures for a successful sports massage with or without accessories.
Table of Contents
1. Why do a massage after exercise?
After the effort, a massage brings many benefits, whatever the level and the activity practised:
It accompanies the cooling of body temperature.
Exciting microcirculation and intramuscular motion help remove metabolic waste products produced during the game. Such as lactic acid while refining oxygenation and the supply of nutrients to the muscles.
It facilitates the return to physical exercise by promoting muscle recovery and reducing tension in muscles and tendons.
Instantly soothes specific pains of inflammatory origin and relaxes the body from a nervous and muscular point of view.
Prevents the appearance of aches.
To take advantage of these benefits. Using a professional masseur several times a month during Competition or after training is possible. Top athletes often have a dedicated physiotherapist who massages them before and after exercise. Massaging yourself at home is also an exciting option, easier to put in place after each sports session. Self-massage can as a complement to massage practised by a professional.
2. Equip yourself and learn – the right gestures for self-massage
With a few basic techniques and the right equipment, massaging at home after a sports session is within everyone’s reach.
Home massage accessories
Different accessories can be interesting to practice a self-massage after sport :
Massage rollers: Using the body’s weight, they massage the thighs and calves.
Massage balls: they can help massage specific sensitive points on the back by leaning against a wall or doing a relaxing self-massage of the foot’s arch. The acupressure balls have nubs to improve the effectiveness of the massage.
A giant massage ball is handy for massaging the gluteal muscles using body weight.
To massage the arms, use a hand massager or a small roller.
A double bill with a hollow in the middle is ideal for massaging the neck.
Manual massage techniques
Self-Massage At Home
By mastering these few basic gestures of manual massage, you can easily massage yourself at home:
Effleurage: to be done at the beginning and the end of the massage, it consists of making very gentle circular movements with the hand.
Friction: faster and more vigorous than brushing, it warms the muscles and accentuates muscle relaxation. The conflict is more pleasant with massage oil.
Kneading: knead a deeper area with the heel of the hand, grasping a fold of the skin. Where possible, use both hands.
Tapping: Make regular beats with the hand and wrist while advancing gradually and a muscle group. For more effects, practice tapping with a clenched fist, making sure not to feel any pain.
Palpate is refreshing and practical for chasing away tension. This very popular gesture consists of pinching a fold of skin firmly between the thumb and the other fingers and moving this fold along the muscle or spine vertebral.
Acupressure: derived from Chinese medicine. The acupressure technique uses finger pressure on specific points to rebalance energies and eliminate stress. It is also applied using the trigger point release method: nervous tension by pressing hard for 30 seconds on sensitive issues (mapped as reflex points).
3. Our tips for practising self-massage at home
Basically. to optimize the benefits of a post-sport massage at home, take these few criteria into account:
Document yourself on the movements to perform, the order in which to complete them and their actions on the body: some are soothing, others energizing.
That is to say. listen to your feelings: the sports massage should not cause pain; on the contrary, you should generally feel deep relaxation.
Basically. each type of massage meets an objective: the massage can be draining and have a slimming aim to amplify the effects of an anti-cellulite fitness session or even be targeted on the reflex points to resolve nervous and muscular tensions. , etc
The moment when you perform the massages is critical. Generally, the massage dedicated to muscle. Recovery is done 1 to 2 hours after the effort, but a massage the next day or in the evening before sleeping can also be relaxing.
Combine self-massage sessions with a healthy lifestyle: sleep and nutrition are also critical criteria for a good recovery.
