Whether or not you are new to exercise or a veteran, you probably know all about sore muscles after a good workout.
It turns out that exercise and massage are natural partners for people of all levels of fitness.
When you work out vigorously, you make micro tears in your muscles; part of the soreness you feel afterwards is from muscle inflammation as your muscles heal.
Dr. Mark A. Tarnopolsky, professor of pediatrics and medicine at McMaster University and fellow researchers conducted a study and were able to prove that massage helps reduce muscle inflammation. This, in turn, eases post-exercise muscle soreness.
Here’s what researchers did:
(Brave) volunteers had their quadriceps (leg muscles) biopsied before starting to ride vigorously on a stationary bicycle, again 10 minutes after riding and once more after 2.5 hours of recovery time. Some volunteers received massage therapy right after riding on the bicycle and others did not.
The results were published in the February 1, 2012 issue of Science Translational Medicine and the researchers concluded that “massage therapy appears to be clinically beneficial by reducing inflammation and promoting mitochondrial biogenesis.”
Book your next post-exercise massage on line or call us at (250) 984-4627.
Your muscles will thank you.
