Should You Exercise After a Massage?
Massage and exercise are two great things you can do for your body. Both affect the muscles and how they function during day-to-day activity and can work in tandem to keep your body strong, healthy, and relaxed. However, you may have encountered a time when you were uncertain about how closely to schedule the two activities.
Massage and the body
Massage helps stretch and relax your muscles. This brings a host of positive changes, from better alignment to increased circulation, that aid in the healing of muscles and surrounding tissues. The relaxed feeling after a massage is just that—relaxed and loose muscles! It relieves and releases the tension in the body.
Exercise and the body
Exercise increases strength over time, but in the short term, it has many positive effects as well. Exercise increases endorphins, raises your heart rate, and begins building muscle. Working out puts tension on the muscles that introduces microscopic tears. After a workout, your body begins the work of repairing these tears, which builds the muscles.
How should you schedule the two?
Clearly, the intent and outcome of massage and exercise are opposite, even though they are both important and beneficial for the body. There is some concern that working out immediately after a massage could introduce opportunity for injury, since the body will be so loose and relaxed. At the very least, we know that exercise will tighten and add tension to the muscles that you’ve just taken care to relax and stretch. For these reasons, we generally advise avoiding exercise immediately after a massage. Instead, try to separate the two activities in your schedule.
One exception may be a massage tailored to stretch overly tight muscles to warm up for sports or other physical activity. If you are seeking this type of massage, communicate with your therapist, and they can tailor your bodywork to your needs. The massage will consist of gentler and lighter strokes, rather than a deep massage.
There can be some benefit to massage immediately after a workout in order to stretch and soothe the muscles you’ve just worked. It can also aid in speeding recovery time, reducing inflammation, and beginning the healing process for muscles. Once again, it’s best to communicate your needs and intentions for the massage with your therapist. They can choose the right techniques for you based on your needs.
Ultimately, you will find you get the most benefit from both massage and exercise by separating the two and allowing your body time to reset from each activity. If you have a specific intention for your massage that relates to exercise, a massage therapist can tailor a massage to those needs and recommend the best timing for the two activities.
