Tag Archives: Sports & Remedial Massage Therapy

What they want vs what the evidence says: the MaccyD problem

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You walk into McDonalds and order your big mac and fries and a milkshake the size of a walrus, all good and well. The guy takes your order, goes and gets it- but comes back with a Lean Chicken Salad with a veg juice. “What the heck is this?” You think….” I came in here with a certain expectation of what I want and what, at this point, I *need*, and yet *this* is what I get. What the hell”? So you question the guy behind the counter… “What happened to the Big mac, the fries and the milkshake?” “Ah, … Continue reading →

Calf Stretches

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A common question asked in the running world is “do you stretch?” More often than you think, the answer is “yes”. Quickly followed by, “but only my calves”. Great – stretching is rarely a bad thing. But the way the lower leg muscle group tends to be stretched can be woefully inefficient. A lot of people are really good at stretching ONE of the main lower leg muscles. The other one, (in some peoples opinion, the more important one) doesn’t even get a look in, despite the fact it is used for the majority of force when running. Yikes! Running … Continue reading →

Pregnancy Massage: positioning

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Your top priority when coming for a pregnancy massage is likely to be that you want a relaxing experience. Plus, if you are experiencing specific aches and pains you are surely going to want those to be eased with a thoroughly good hands on treatment. The good news is, you will get all of that in a pregnancy massage with us. For me, as the massage therapist, my aims are to give you that relaxation and space to breathe, alleviate your discomfort and high on my list of priorities is to keep you and your baby safe. A massage treatment always … Continue reading →

The Importance of Sleep

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The benefits of sleep and sleeping well need little introduction. But do we all get a good nights sleep? We think it’s worth spending a little time during this week (Sleep Awareness Week) to think about what you can do to promote better sleep for yourself. 6-12 March 2016 Poor sleep, reduced hours sleep, insomnia or disturbed sleep all take a toll on our physical and mental states. It can even be dangerous in some circumstances (driving, operating machinery, or even leading to bad decision-making). Many of us will experience insomnia at some point in our lives. Insomnia on a ‘temporary’ or … Continue reading →

Research focus: trigger point therapy for calf pain

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We are constantly reading, researching and investigating issues relating to the work we do. In our recent research we’ve read an interesting research study looking at calf (triceps surae) dysfuntion and whether trigger point therapy is an effective treatment. Alongside the trigger point treatment that was administered, subjects were advised on home care using a programme of stretching and foam rollering. The abstract from the paper is in the text below, if you want to have a look – the results show that following treatment to deactivate trigger points the subjects had better range of movement in the ankle, less pain and better function. … Continue reading →

Sports Massage qualifications

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There are a decent number of people out there with sports massage qualifications now. Or at least, a good number of people out there who are advertising sports massage as a service, though there are a confusing array of different qualifications that allow them to advertise themselves as such. The main qualifications out there are under the BTEC banner. They start off at Level 3 and go to Level 5, but what is the difference, and what can you expect from a practitioner of each level? BTEC Level 3 A one-weekend qualification, generally done as a continual professional development course … Continue reading →