Sports

Name one thing that is more satisfying than a massage… Maybe don’t answer that, but you get our drift right? If you’ve had a stressful week at work and need to relieve some tension or you’ve finished a hard-core session at the gym and your muscles feel super tight, a massage is your next port of call. The question is, Deep Tissue or Sports? Read below to help you decide which technique is the one to fulfil your body’s desires.

DEEPER THAN DEEP TISSUE

Deep tissue

A deep tissue massage is designed to improve a number of problems, including blood circulation, stimulating the muscle’s strength reflex, as well as draining toxins and targeting pain. Using warm oils, deep finger pressure and slow, firm strokes like kneading; your therapist will work out the tensions and smaller knots in your body, concentrating on the manipulation of the tissues that lie over the top of the muscle. Don’t panic if a little discomfort occurs during your massage due to inconsistencies within the tissues; think of this as ‘good hurt’, the kind that almost feels good at the same time.  Remember that a little pleasure and pain never hurt anybody! According to Consumer Reports magazine, 34,000 people ranked deep tissue massage more effective in relieving osteoarthritis pain than physical therapy, exercise, prescription medications, chiropractic, acupuncture, diet, glucosamine, and over-the-counter drugs. One massage, so many benefits -we’ll leave you to do the math.

HIT THE RIGHT SPORTS SPOT

Don’t be fooled by its name: a sports massage isn’t just for athlete’s -it can revitalise the muscles and ligaments of us all! It’s all about hitting the right spot, if you know what we mean…targeting specific areas prone to injury of course, which aren’t always sports related.  Working similarly to physiotherapy, it targets sports specific injury areas like hamstrings, working out larger knots or muscle adhesions caused by poor training practices, or every day postural problems. “Today most of our work is sedentary and desk orientated, which brings a lot of postural problems and changes. Think what stress is placed on the body when eight hours a day spent at a laptop is followed by one hour of high-intensity exercise” says the senior soft tissue therapist for the English Institute of Sport, Andy Stanbury. Involving stretching, it will work to improve flexibility and realign the muscle fibres, giving your body a much-needed surge of strength. Iron man who?

MY BODY YOUR BODY

Sparista

So there you have it! From my body to yours, everyone is different. Whichever massage you choose, the main thing is to communicate with your therapist about what to expect from your treatment, it may sound obvious but people are often too embarrassed to discuss their questions and wants/need from a massage. Open up, relax, and spoil yourself.

Massages starting from £69, choose from 60 mins, 90 mins or 2 hours.


Download the USPAAH app from the App Store or Google Play. If you have any questions, please email concierge@uspaah.com or call 020 7101 3534

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