Sore Muscles after Exercise? 2

It’s frustrating that even though millions of professional and amateur athletes attest to training, performing and recovering better with massage as part of their training regime, any medical research that supports the theory still comes with the “may help” tag.
It is difficult to assess the quality of the research commented on in the WebMD article as they don’t cite references to the original study. It is true that there have been a number of studies that have failed to prove the link between massage and faster recovery times, but Oleg Bouimer former Massage Therapist to the Russian Olympic team states that it is all down to timing. The Russian protocol was developed in a trial and error kind of way, but once they hit on the right recipe, they used it to great effect for decades. So, the magic number? 2-2.5 hours after exercise. This approach has since been corroborated by a scientific study published in 1994.
But It’s not just massage at the right time that works, it also needs to be the right sort of massage.
A true post event massage is all about encouraging fluid exchange and should consist of roughly 50% kneading, all well within the comfort parameters of the person on the couch. Post event massage does not treat any new or existing aches and pains, is not uncomfortable and is not a replacement for a cool down regime.
So, now you know, you can start planning your massages to slot in with your training/event regime and bounce back from ‘the big push’ quicker than ever before.