The Benefits of Massage: What You Should Know

You’ve watched The Biggest Loser and know that physical exercise is one of the best ways to speed up weight loss. You also know that exercise can be a painful and even torturous experience that leaves your muscles feeling achy and sore for days after.

Even though you know that this soreness ultimately result in larger, more capable muscles, they still hurt! Not only this, but they can slow down your exercise plan because they require time to heal. Unfortunately, not much can be done to speed up the healing process aside from time.

At least that is what researchers used to believe.

Today, a study has been published that shows that massages not only feel amazing for sore muscles, but also can help speed the process of muscle recovery after a hard workout.

In the February edition of Science Translational Medicine, a study on massage was printed that showed that there may be more benefits to massages than simply feeling good.

What Does Massage Really Do?

This study examined eleven young male volunteers whose leg muscles were biopsied to understand the effect of exercise and massage on muscle groups.

For the first examination, samples of the participants’ leg muscles were biopsied (or cut out and examined under a microscope) while at rest. For the second, however, the participants exercised on stationary bicycles until exhausted and unable to continue. After this, one thigh muscle was massaged for 10 minutes while the other was left to recover unaided. After the 10 minute massage, samples from each leg were biopsied again.

After a two-and-a-half hour rest period, a third biopsy was removed from each leg. Altogether, each participant received five muscle biopsies.

The Shocking Results

Because of the nature of heavy exercise, muscles are damaged in the process and develop tiny, microscopic rips that are repaired by the body, but leave the exerciser feeling extremely sore for the next few days. These tears also result in inflammation.

After examining each of the muscle biopsies, researchers realized that massage helped to reduce inflammation in tired muscles and also stimulated the cells to repair themselves much quicker. Dr. Mark A. Tarnopolsky explains: “The bottom line is that there appears to be a suppression of pathways in inflammation and an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis.” This means that muscles are able to adapt much quicker and more efficiently to the demands that exercise places upon them.

A lot of people resort to taking Nsaids, or over-the-counter painkillers like Aleve or aspirin, the morning after rigorous exercise, but Dr. Tarnopolsky explains that while it may make the pain easier for exercisers to bear, these drugs do not actually promote healing and can even slow it down. In the long run, he explains, Nsaids are not very effective at helping exercisers recover.

What Does this Mean for Me?

For the average person, getting an expensive massage after exercising is not very realistic. However, scheduling one after meeting fitness or weight loss goals may be the perfect solution for dieters. Not only will it feel great, but rewarding yourself for your hard work in with something healthy will feel even better.

Even though going to a masseuse is ideal, you can always give yourself a massage in easy-to-reach areas. If your back or hamstrings are sore, however, you can ask a family member or friend to give you a massage as well to get the same muscle-recovery benefits.