Why wait until you’re sore to go out and get a massage? The first couple of days after a workout can be the toughest, especially if you’re just getting back into exercising on a regular basis. Those muscles that you forgot (or never knew) you had can feel inflamed, leaving you barley able to move. Which then leads to the potential of delayed visits back to the gym. The importance of momentum in regards to regular physical activity shouldn’t be ignored. Taking proper steps and safeguards to ensure a positive, relatively painless exercise regimen is imperative to keeping your long-term health goals within reach.
A couple of ways to ensure you stay connected to your fitness plan is making sure your post-workout routine includes plenty of stretching and massage, while pairing up with a Santa Monica personal trainer. A study done in 2012 by Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, a researcher at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, showed that getting just a 10-minute massage following your workout can improve your recovery time. Before and after putting eleven healthy subjects through strenuous workouts, Dr. Tarnopolsky administered biopsies on all of the participants’ legs. Following their workouts, subjects were given a 10-minute Swedish massage. The results were as follows:
“The brief massage affected two specific genes in the muscle cells. The first gene decreases inflammation caused by exercise; similar to the relief you get from certain pain medications. The second gene turned up production of mitochondria in the muscles. These are the power houses of cells. They use oxygen and the broken down products of food to generate energy needed by the cells. As muscle cells become adapted to endurance exercise, the number of mitochondria increases.”
Many Santa Monica gyms, like 34 North, recommend getting a massage to help speed up your post workout recovery. Staying healthy should the number one priority for you and your personal trainer. When seeking out personal training in Santa Monica, make sure your trainer is staying connected to you and keeping your well-being in mind throughout your entire fitness plan and process. Not only should they be involved in your daily workout routine, but also they should hold you accountable to staying in the best condition to reach your fitness goals.
Source (Massage Improves Post-Workout Recovery – Men’s Fitness)