When you think of the word "massage", what thoughts spring to mind? A warm welcoming atmosphere, soft, soothing hands gently carressing the cares and stresses of your day away. Perhaps some fragrant aromatherapy oils and some relaxing music playing in the background as you drift between wakefulness and sleep in a blissful sensation of pure realxation.
Now put the word "sports" in front of massage and it's a whole different ball game. As is my want, I popped into Achilles Heel in Glasgow this week for my regular "sports" massage in an attempt to keep some semblance of flexibility in my lower limbs.
The massage starts off gently enough with a firm pressing of my quads which are generally OK and don't tend to suffer from much in the way of stiffness. I turn over and Christine works on my hamstrings which again are usually OK but can tighten up occassionally. The first sense of foreboding comes as she moves onto my calfs which are usually fairly tight, a condition I put down to my use of orthotics and nothing to do with my usual stretching regime which a best can be described as negligable.
As she works away trying to loosen the tension in my calfs, there is the occasional twings of pain as she identifies a tender area and like a boxer who has just noticed an opponents weakness, starts to focus on that spot until the pain and tension eases. So far so good; then she utters the words that strike fear and terror into my very soul. Words that have grown men flinching in anticipatory pain and onlookers covering their ears and averting their gaze............
"Just roll onto your side and I'll do your IT Bands!"
Now if anyone has had there IT bands massaged they can sympathise and for those of you you haven't, consider yourselves very lucky. I am regularly advised that although they give me no specific problems, my IT bands are usually as stiff as pieces of wood and so Christine finds this a personal challenge to try and produce some minor flexibility and suppleness back into them. This process can involve, elbows, knuckles, forearms, heels of the hand and pretty much anything she can lay her hands on. I am not ashamed to say that this is possibly one of the most painful experiences I have to endure in my day to day life as I lie there gritting my teeth and trying not to blub! Christine usually asks me some fresh questions at this point to try and distract my thoughts but any response is usually restricted to few stifled grunts and groans.
At the end of this process it has to be admitted however that my legs do feel good. There is a warming glow about them and they feel loose and free and any niggles and stiffness I had been feeling have gone. It is therefore incumbent upon me to get back out running, ignore my stretching and undo all the good work done by Christine in order that I can put myself through the whole process again a couple of weeks later.
So - who's for a massage?
2 comments:
And you get to pay for the pleasure!
I am trained in sports massage and when I did my course I was considered pretty heavy handed by the fellow students on whom we practiced, but the instructor considered me the masseur she would pay money to in order to get an effective massage. As the old saying goes - NO PAIN NO GAIN!!!
I have frequently been the victim of one of Christine's massages. How can someone for little and lovely be so brutal?
Post a Comment