Sports massage for people who train on the North Shore.

Sports massage at Medstar Sport Physio is registered massage therapy timed around your training. Research shows it eases muscle soreness and improves flexibility a small amount, and it does not raise strength, speed or endurance.

• Best use: recovery after hard training or a race.
• Soreness was lower at 24, 48 and 72 hours after hard exercise with massage, in a review of 11 studies.
• Short, focused sessions did better for recovery than long ones in a review of 22 trials.
• Skip firm massage in the last few days before an important race.
• Billed as an RMT visit, so health plans and ICBC treat it like any massage therapy visit.

Sports massage uses the same hands-on methods as other clinical massage: gliding strokes, firmer work on deeper muscles, steady pressure on tender spots, and assisted stretching. The difference is the plan. The therapist asks about your sport, your training week and your next event, and focuses on the muscles you load most.

Some common patterns on the North Shore:

• Trail runners and hikers: calves, the muscles at the front and side of the shin, hips and the outside of the thigh.
• Cyclists and mountain bikers: hip flexors, thighs, low back, neck and forearms.
• Climbers: forearms, the muscles around the shoulder blades, and the chest.
• Hockey players and skiers: groin, hips, thighs and low back.
• Paddlers and swimmers: shoulders, upper back and the sides of the trunk.

The largest review, published in 2020 in BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, pooled 29 studies with 1,012 people. It found no evidence that massage improves strength, jumping, sprinting, endurance or fatigue. It did find small but real improvements in flexibility and in the muscle soreness that comes a day or two after hard exercise.

A 2017 review in Frontiers in Physiology looked at that soreness in detail. Across 11 studies and 504 people, soreness was lower with massage than with no treatment at 24, 48 and 72 hours after hard exercise. The same review found muscle force recovered better with massage.

A 2016 review in Sports Medicine looked at 22 trials of massage for performance recovery. Effects were small overall. They were largest after high-intensity mixed exercise, with an average gain of 14.4%, and smallest after endurance exercise, at 1.3%. Massage of 5 to 12 minutes did better than massage longer than 12 minutes.

The honest summary: sports massage helps you feel less sore and move more freely after hard training. It will not replace sleep, food, smart training or strength work.

The evidence is strongest for massage after hard sessions. Book after your hardest day of the week or the day after a race, once you have cooled down and eaten.

Before a race, avoid firm massage in the last few days before an important event, because next-day soreness is common. A 2018 trial in track athletes found that massage before sprinting did not help, and massage on its own led to slower 60-metre times than a normal warm-up. Keep your usual warm-up routine.

During a training block, a common plan is a session every two to four weeks, or after the toughest week. Our length and frequency page has more detail.

Tight and sore after a big week is a good reason to book massage. Some signs point to an injury that needs a diagnosis first:

• You felt a pop, a tear or a sudden sharp pain.
• There is swelling or bruising around a joint.
• A joint gives way, locks or catches.
• Pain changes how you walk, run or grip.
• Pain is getting worse week to week, or wakes you at night.

For any of these, book a physiotherapy assessment. The physiotherapists and the massage therapist at Medstar work in the same clinic and, with your consent, share notes, so massage can support the rehab plan. Our return-to-sport guide explains how injuries are brought back to full training.

Sports massage at Medstar is given by a Registered Massage Therapist, so it is billed as massage therapy. Most work health plans cover it up to the limits in your plan, and the clinic bills them directly. If your injury came from a car crash, ICBC pre-approves 12 massage treatments in the first 12 weeks. See the coverage page.