S
TEXTCHARLENE FANG AND ESTELLE LOWA sports massage may not be
a blissful experience, but it’s
an effective treatment that will
heal old injuries and prevent
new ones.
Sports massages get
a bad rap and we
can understand why.
When you attach the
word massage to
any form of therapy,
the immediate
association
is: “relaxing”,
“blissful”, “sleep-
inducing” – sports
massages are
anything but that.
Often confused
with deep tissue
massage (DTM), a generic term for a manual massage
treatment to reduce areas of tension over the entire
body, sports massage therapists move more deeply
into the muscles than a classic massage.
“DTM promotes blood flow and circulation, and is
great for general identification of muscle weaknesses,”
says Lynsey Keyes, UFIT’s head of marketing and a
trained sports massage therapist. “Sports massage
is actually a type of deep tissue massage that is
targeted at helping recovery after sports or preventing
sports injuries. It can be used as regular maintenance
in between activity, or simply when necessary to
promote recovery.”
According to Lynsey, the level of expertise involved
in sports massages “require an in-depth knowledge of
the anatomy and physiology of the body”, an element
that differentiates it from general massages – why
athletes and sportsmen differ to sports massage as
their modality of choice.
“Athletes may benefit more from a sports massage
(than foam rolling or using a sauna) as it decreases
fatigue, reduces chance of injuries and can improve
sports performance by increasing muscular flexibility
and range of motion,” shares Lynsey. “Your therapist is
trained to assess the body for weakness or restriction,
and work on a bespoke plan that’s right for you and
your particular sporting requirements.”
In our quest to come up with this trusty guide
to sports massages in Singapore, we put our weary,
worked-out bodies up for kneading at these five spots- and lived to tell the tale. We mean, review.
NO PAIN, NO GAIN
Core Collective
Treatment Sports Massage
Best for Anyone experiencing difficulty in movement, and who is looking to
improve sports performance
Review Being a sports massage virgin, I wasn’t prepared for the intense pain
throughout the treatment, though my therapist Jeff, a buff fitness trainer who
specialises in strength and conditioning, said he was “going easy” on me. This
was similar to a deep tissue massage, except that he zoomed in on typically
tight areas (back, hips, glutes, hamstrings and IT bands) and worked them hard.
He used different parts of his hands – thumbs, knuckles, forearms and elbows –
to vary the strokes and pressure. Throughout the session, I truly felt like a slab
of rigid meat getting tenderised. I consider my pain threshold to be high, but
found myself tearing up a few times during the massage, and wondering if that
level of discomfort was normal. By the end of it, my whole body was sore and
tingly. Jeff assured me that was to be expected, and that the soreness might last
for a few days, which it did. He also advised me to up my water intake, as that
would help flush out the toxins released from the massage. A few days later, I
noticed a deep bruise along the side of my thigh, the most sensitive spot during
the massage. On the bright side, I noticed an improved range of movement
right after. I could squat more deeply and do alternating low side lunges without
hearing my hip joints click. My shoulders and upper back felt like a heavy load
had been lifted. I became more aware of my standing and sitting posture, so I
guess all that agony was worth it.
Note You may be asked to remove your top and bra during the massage, so
request for a female therapist if you’re uncomfortable with a male therapist.
Where Core Collective, 79 Anson Road, Level 21
Price $130 for 90 minutes
More info corecollective.sg- Estelle
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48 | NOW TRENDING | SHAPE AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2019
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