Mastering recovery: How to combine running and massage for better results
It’s important to combine massage with regular stretching and activation exercises before you run.
This powerful trio not only prepares your muscles but also boosts your performance and reduces the risk of injury.
“Massage works by stimulating mechanoreceptors – nerve endings that are sensitive to pressure and vibration,” says Tobias Bremer, a physiotherapist and founder of the Physio Clinic Seaford, who specialises in treating runners and cyclists, including Germany's Olympic marathon team. “These mechanoreceptors act as sensors in the body, relaying information to the brain, which then reduces muscle tension and aids recovery.”
If your muscles are tight, it’s worth booking a sports massage right away, says Tobias, before the problem escalates into a full-blown injury. Visiting a massage therapist will aid your recovery, but a physiotherapist will assess you thoroughly and look at the root biomechanical causes of any tightness to reduce the risk of future problems and injuries, says Tobias, along with providing a loosening massage.
“Even elite runners can be fine-tuned,” he says, and he advises runners to visit a physio at the start of their training for a big event, such as a marathon, if they can. “Prevention is key, and if you’ve committed to do a marathon you’re going to be working close to the limit of your capability,” he says. “Runners will often invest in expensive running shoes but looking after your body so you can get to the Start Line and put in the best performance is a worthwhile investment too.”
Does massage need to hurt?
The ideal pressure for a massage should be uncomfortable but completely tolerable, says Tobias.
“There is a misconception that massage should involve lots of pain to be effective,” he says. “A physio friend of mine used to work with cyclists while they were racing in the Tour de France. I asked him how he treated them in the evenings, and he said they just do effleurage, which is a broad stroked, really soft-touch massage.”
He says really hard massages hurt afterwards because you’ve damaged the tissue, which is counterproductive and doesn’t aid recovery. “If a runner, who is getting ready for a marathon, comes to see me, I don’t want them to be sore and not able to train the next day, as that will have a knock-on effect on their fitness,” he says.
When should you use an acupressure mat?
An acupressure mat is a rollable foam mat that’s covered in hundreds of plastic nubs, which are designed to stimulate acupressure points, as used in Chinese medicine.
They can be a good thing for runners to walk their feet on, according to Tobias, though again they will offer more value to some runners than others, he says, depending on how each individual responds to acupressure.
Runners could use the mat before a run to activate their feet, he says. An acupressure ball or even a golf ball would work well too. The mats can also be useful for runners to do balance exercises on, providing extra stimuli for the feet and bringing awareness to the brain. “MRI scans have shown us that if you roll out the foot, it lights up the corresponding area in the brain,” Tobias says.
What about a foam roller?
Runners can use foam rollers to relieve muscle tension in the thighs, calves, and glutes, but they shouldn’t be used on the IT band (a thick band of connective tissue that stretches from the outside of the pelvis down past the knee joint to the outside of the shin bone). Because the pressure comes from your body weight, Tobias advises runners to start gently and, again, to stay within a manageable pain threshold.
What about massage guns?
A massage gun is a portable handheld device that vibrates at a high frequency, which can be adjusted.
Many of Tobias's clients use massage guns, though he says it’s difficult to answer whether they will work for everyone. “We all respond to different things, so you need to find the mechanism that works best for you,” he says. “If it makes you feel better, you can perform better, so it’s the right tool for you.”
If you want to use a massage gun, Tobias advises runners to stick to only using it on the fleshy parts of the body, such as thighs and glutes, and to use it on a moderate setting. “If you hammer your calf muscles with the hard setting of a massage gun, it can make them really tight,” he says. “Which is the complete opposite of what you want to do.”
Written by Sam Haddad. Sam is a freelance journalist based in Brighton, she's been writing about sport and the outdoors for more than 20 years.