Why massage the Calves?

We use our calf muscles for walking, jogging, running & jumping. They are powerful & the Achilles Tendon takes 7 times your body weight during running. No pressure, Achilles.

Injuries to the Gastrocnemius & Soleus muscles (the ones that make up the bulk of the calf) are common, particularly amongst tennis & football players and sprinters. They are slow twitch muscles, meaning they're better at using oxygen to generate fuel for continuous muscle contractions. They're built for endurance, but if over used and under treated an injury can be debilitating because of the way these muscles act on the knee and ankle joint.

Calf injuries not only lead to pain in the actual calf but can also manifest as pain behind or to the side of the knee, as planterfasciitis (pain in the arch of your foot) or ankle instability! And that really sucks.

Massage is proven to speed up injury recovery or better yet work as an injury preventative.

Massage is used to improve the circulation. Circulation which delivers vital oxygen & nutrients while also carrying away harmful metabolic byproducts as a result of exercise and muscle use. Therefore not only aiding the recovery process but actually keeping the muscle tissue from deteriorating! #winning

Massage is also used to reduce scar tissue. Why do you need to reduce scar tissue, I hear you ask!? Scar tissue often adheres to surrounding muscle & fascia. This can result in restricted range of motion and interfere with both nerves and blood vessels (which, again, really sucks) Scar tissue is an excellent demonstration of the body's ability to self preserve. But being mainly made of collagen, scar tissue lacks adequate circulation that we now know is essential for healthy muscle fibers.

It's kind of a no-brainer that massage is also used to reduce pain. Our natural reaction to rub over an area that's sore is proof of that.

So to recap; massage-good. Injuries-bad.

#massage #deeptissue #calves #injury