Evidence for sports massage??

Is there any evidence to support the use of sports massage is a question I often get asked. The answer to that is simply unfortunately not a lot. So why do so many people still do it?

· Increased lymph flow
· Helps in the removal of waste
· Promotes healing
· Promotes muscle relaxation

They also believe that massage:

According to Mills and Parker Bennett (2004) these are the physiological benefits of massage:

· Increased blood circulation

· Relieves muscle tension
· Mobilises muscle fibres
· Stretches soft tissue
· Improves flexibility

However there are hardly any evidence to suggest why and how sports massage is useful but I have found in my experience that it helps. I learnt during my degree that a good sports therapist should provide treatment from a background of evidence-based practise; however I have learnt that sometimes you need to change this to practise-based evidence. I have seen that sports massage helps people improve their range of movement; I have seen that people feel better after a massage (even though it can be brutal getting a sports massage!). This is why I keep doing it and believe it does make a difference to people. Perhaps in the future sports massage will gain scientific backing, or perhaps it is purely a placebo??

Thanks

Monica

New gym induction video on it's way

For the last year I have been working part time as a gym instructor at Leeds Metropolitan University (Civic Quarter). My main responsibilities are to induct new members of the gym on all the equipment, write individualised programmes for patrons, and help and instruct members of the gym. Over the summer the gym is normally pretty quiet due to all the students going home so I was asked to be in charge of producing a new gym induction film over all the equipment we have in the gym. I thought it would be a good challenge, so I was responsible of contacting the film staff at the University and also get hold of someone who could be my “model”. One of my colleagues stepped up to the mark and offered to help me in my little project, thanks for that Johnny!

After a few meetings with the film crew to discuss how to best organise and film the video, I sat down and wrote down a script over all the 26 pieces of equipment we have in the gym. Having not really done any type of filming like this before, I decided to prepare myself by filming myself while speaking to my laptop, good job no one could hear me when I did that!! We did a test shot of me induction Johnny on the treadmill which you can laugh at underneath:

As English is not my first language a few error were made here and there like hand railings, instead of hands rails. The thing is that when you have to look straight into a film camera and think about the next sentence you have to say, things like that happens. Don’t worry the final film will hopefully be in a language you can all understand.

After getting some constructive feedback on our first attempt, we all got together to start the “real” film. The filming took just over 5 days to complete and believe it or not I think I got used to staring into a camera after a couple of days. Not too sure that weather presenter would be anything for me though.......

Anyway I will be getting the DVD back this week to see if any changes needs to be made, so the film will be ready for all the students to enjoy from the 20th of September. Bet they can’t wait...:)

Follow the link to see the video!

mms://video-2.leedsmet.ac.uk/contentglobal/080710-1021 AM-37287--1.wmv

Hard work, rehab and commitment paid off!

As mentioned before I have been working with several sports teams, groups and individuals at Carnegie at Leeds Metropolitan University over the last year. One of the groups I have worked the most with over the last few months is badminton - a nice group of hard working players! I have mainly been working alongside Sarah Milne, a talented 18 year old badminton player who recently competed in the Singapore Youth Olympics.
Less than 3 months before Sarah went to Singapore to compete she had a “small” surgery to her knee. I have been responsible for her rehabilitation and also getting her back to full fitness. I worked closely with her main coach James Vincent and Brendan Chaplin (S and C coach and supervisor), and used what I'd learnt to date to come up with a plan to achieve this goal.
Straight after the surgery Sarah had one week completely off training, to allow healing to start and the swelling go down. The first few weeks after this the training consisted of a lot of gluteus and VMO strengthening in form of glut raises, hip clams, gluteus exercises with resistance band and a lot of single leg squats in front of a mirror to control the knee. Fortunately Sarah was very strong prior to the surgery which meant that only a week after the surgery she was able to continue lifting weights such as dead lifts, squats, SLDL (straight leg deadlift), pull ups etc.

Underneath are some videos of Sarah performing some of the exercises in her programme; squat jumps, a deadlift, pull ups and SLDL (although not straight after the surgery!):

Badminton is an intense sport that demands aerobic and anaerobic endurance, speed and agility, as well as strength. Endurance was another aspect that had to be implemented as part of Sarah’s training. Initially we focused on straight line running on the athletics track, before moving onto more agility and badminton specific movements on court when we felt her knee was sufficiently recovered. Moving onto this type of exercise too soon could put recovery at risk, or worse cause further injury.

Being part of someone’s rehabilitation has taught me the importance of honest feedback about the injury and how the athlete feels. You can have all the training plans in the world and know all the science behind the injury’s stage of healing, but honest feedback from the player is important. This way you are able to change and alternate your training plans if necessary to suit the individual, rather than relying solely on the textbooks or literature!

Sarah came 4th which is a great achievement and Sarah is a living proof that hard work, commitment, effort and talent can lead to great results. Sarah has also been given the title “Player of the Month" September 2010 from Badminton England after her performance in Singapore. Check out an interview with Sarah here:

http://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/text.asp?section=903

It is a pleasure working with such a dedicated young player!

Monica