How has sports massage in NYC benefited our clients? Part 1: Massage for Crossfit Injuries
Are you an all around athlete taking crossfit or bootcamp classes? This blog is for you! Meghan Krupka explains the ways sports massage in NYC can help athletes of all kinds.
Competitive athlete? Weekend warrior? Recreational fitness enthusiast? At Bodyworks DW, we work with a wide variety of active individuals. Our therapists provide custom-designed sports massage for crossfit sessions focused on helping you maximize your activity enjoyment. This can include sessions for injury recovery, injury prevention, tune-ups and maintenance. Sports massage in NYC for active people and athletes is hardly a luxury – it’s an investment!
Sports massage for crossfit provides targeted, therapeutic treatment tailored to the biomechanics and physical needs of the athlete. In other words, it’s not going to be like your typical fluff n’ buff spa massage 😉 You’re going to be moving around a bit for analysis. You and your therapist will be working together on increasing range of motion and unwinding injuries. And you’re going to get some homework!
Curious how a sports massage for crossfit injuries in NYC might work for you? We’ve taken some of our most common client-athlete cases and given you a run-down of how a sports massage could benefit each one. Keep reading more to dive in!
Update August 2020: Sports massage for athletes is especially important right now after months of COVID-19 shutdowns! We’ve all been trying to exercise via Zoom in ways that we aren’t used to and without the ability of trainers to give us hands-on adjustments to form and posture. Most of us are feeling more pain and stress than we are used to and could use a tune up 🙂
All-Around Athletes: CrossFitter (CrossFit, Boot Camp)
The CrossFit community is known for its high-intensity, highly variable workouts. These incorporate anything from gymnastics to Olympic weightlifting to aerobic conditioning. In particular, CrossFit places a high demand on the shoulders. There are a lot of overhead movements. And also plenty of movements that require quite a bit of shoulder stability AND mobility. We get a lot of clients coming in for sports massage for CrossFit with shoulder injuries from pushing a bit too much too soon.
Shoulder stability and mobility is a complex interaction between the scapular-thoracic interface and the glenohumeral (GH) joint. The scapulae (shoulder blades) sit near the upper half and outside portions of the back of the rib cage. The GH joint (or shoulder joint) is at the side of your upper arm. It’s where your arm attaches to your shoulder. Both have to work together to keep your entire upper body properly positioned when doing any overhead movement.
Anatomy of the glenohumeral joint and scapula
Image source: https://therapydiaportland.com/category/rock-climbing/
Movement Analysis: The Snatch
Let’s look at one of the more demanding movements found in both CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting: the snatch! The snatch demands quite a bit of shoulder mobility, including flexion, rotation and also thoracic extension. When a client is lacking mobility in one of these directions incorrect form is the result. Using an inefficient form for an explosive and heavy lift like this will cause small micro tears in the muscles and tendons of the shoulder.
Over time, these micro tears build up and limit mobility even more. Eventually, you have a day where you push a bit too hard towards the end of class. And boom, something major tears! It seems to come out of nowhere but the root cause started months to years earlier.
So how does sports massage for crossfit help with this?
A sports massage therapist is qualified to assess your range of motion for any joint. We can also ask you to mimic what your position might look like in a snatch so we can see where form can be improved. And also where fascial restrictions are causing incorrect form. We also get a lot of information about your muscles. After all, your muscles are the things moving your joints 🙂
Mobility prerequisites for the snatch. Where is your mobility limited?
Image Source: https://markowtrainingsystems.com/kinstretch-with-crossfit
In this athlete example, a series of sessions would definitely include work to mobilize the scapulae and open up the thoracic spine. It might also include more advanced techniques to increase range of motion in your shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. Then you can then explore this new range in class as you work towards more efficient forms. Additionally, your sports massage therapist might even use some muscle tests to further examine any imbalances they see. At the end of each session, we’ll recheck your positions and movement to see how they improved. And give you simple homework to retain your gains for the long term!
Ready for that sports massage now?
At Bodyworks DW, all of our therapists on staff are trained in sports massage in NYC for both pain or injury management. Many of our staff are even athletes themselves! We have a few therapists who are also personal trainers, a Pilates instructor, a black belt in Aikido, a weightlifter, a strength and conditioning specialist…the list goes on! Even many of our front desk staff are dancers and well versed in movement. Working with a massage therapist who understands your typical movement patterns can really make a difference.
Whether you are looking for a sports massage in midtown or in the Financial District, you have access to a diverse group of therapists. Especially ones that are experienced working with active people just like you!
Would you like to schedule a professional sports massage for athletes in Manhattan to help keep you feeling, training, and performing your best with one of our highly trained massage therapists? Contact Bodyworks DW today or click on the button to book online at either of our locations!
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