Pre- and Post- Massage of athletes competing in the Plymouth 10K

Date: 07/10/18  Duration: 5 hours

Location: Plymouth Guildhall

Reflective Summary:

Together with other Sports Therapy Students, I carried out pre- and post- sports massage on athletes competing in the Plymouth 10K.

We worked in pairs and the duration of each massage was 3 minutes.  We used effleurage and petrissage techniques that we have been learning how to use in our practical massage sessions at University.

Pre-event massage was performed on athletes to improve the circulation and flexibility of their leg muscles in preparation for the race.  This involved lighter and faster strokes increasing the blood flow in the muscles producing redness in the skin (erythema).

For the post-event massage I increased the pressure slowing down the strokes to help flush out toxins and lactic acid in the muscles, reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), relax the muscles and improve post-race recovery.

It was quite a challenge to perform a reasonable massage in the limited time of 3 minutes per person.  I tried a routine of eight effleurage strokes, eight petrissage strokes, another eight effleurage strokes, eight wringing strokes and a final eight effleurage strokes decreasing the pressure to signal the end of the massage.

We asked each athlete the particular area that they would like us to focus on and carried each massage specific to each individual.  The majority of massages were carried out on the lower legs.  We also performed two massages on the lower back.

I found massaging the men more of a challenge as their muscles were larger which meant an increased surface area to work on.  Applying the right pressure was also a challenge.  The table wasn’t easily adjusted as it did not have a foot pedal, but adjustable legs and therefore it wasn’t set at the right height for me.  I had to focus on maintaining a good body position whilst performing the massage.

I enjoyed the experience and gained in confidence after each massage.  One of the male athletes that I massaged, had a lot of tension in one of the Hamstring muscles, which after checking my anatomy book later, I learned was the Semitendinosus (Parker 2007).  I could see the tension, in a ridge along the whole line of the muscle. It was quite spectacular.  I applied deeper effleurage strokes using two hands at first, then even deeper strokes using thumbs and my fist until I could feel the ridge easing and the muscle lengthening.  I completed the massage with gentle effleurage strokes to finish.  It felt good to help an athlete with a muscle under stress.

One of my observations from the experience was that about 80% of the athletes that we massage appeared to have more stress on the left-hand side of their body and I wondered why.  I thought about the ‘Cumulative Injury Cycle’ which was discussed during our second soft tissue lecture regarding postural assessment.  My intention is to read up on that during the following week.

References

Parker., S. (2009) The Concise Human Body Book: An illustrated guide to its structure, function and disorders. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited.

Areas for further improvement plus action plan:

To gain more experience massaging a variety of men and women by practising on family, friends and my peers.

Continue to improve my anatomy knowledge.