What is Sport Massage?
The Sports massage has been developed to assist athletes achieve peak performance by avoiding soft tissue injury and assisting the body to recover from unseen minor injuries and lesions that occur due to the overexertion and/or overuse of certain muscle groups. The theoretical basis for this style of bodywork is that by incorporating elements of Swedish, Deep Tissue, and Thai massage, and with increased focus on muscle groups which are sports specific, the athlete can improve overall performance and avoid injury. It is important for the practitioner to know if the purpose of the massage is for general maintenance, to assist recovery immediately post event or to resolve a specific ailments from earlier activity. A Sports massage tailored to your needs will drain away fatigue, relieve swelling, reduce muscle pain, increase flexibility, lubricate joints, and also increase circulation, increase oxygen flow in the blood and release toxins, such as lactic acid, uric acid and other metabolic waste, held in the muscles and soft tissue of the body.
In a Sports massage, the Practitioner will utilize their arms, elbows, hands, palms, thumbs, finger tips, legs, knees, feet and toes to apply to the body a series of movements including: light or hard touch, soft or deep kneading, rhythmic tapping, friction, vibration, compressions, place pressure on specific points and leverage body stretches. In addition the Practitioner moves the receivers’ body through sport specific yoga-like positions and gently rocks the body to more deeply open joints and facilitate limbering. The Practitioner mixes these movements over a 90-180 minute period depending on the recipient’s personal requirements and will also incorporate the use of various oils and lotions to assist in the effectiveness of these motions.
At Oasis, Sports massage is traditionally performed on a futon mat and the recipient generally wears shorts which provide privacy during stretching movements but allow for oils or lotions to be applied. Regardless, the recipient’s privacy is always maintained. Each session is in a private (or couples) room and the recipient may also select a massage on standard massage table instead of the futon mat. We suggest you avoid heavy eating for 2 to 3 hours prior to the massage.



