Now that school is back in session, it’s time for athletes to think about ways they can help improve their performance overall. By incorporating different forms of massage into their warm up and cool down, they reduce the risk of injury while improving mobility and range of motion. One way to achieve this is through cupping for athletes. Cupping for athletes presents many benefits that may help them perform better while also preventing certain types of injuries.
Cupping Existed Before 2016 Olympics
Many people first noticed cupping with Michael Phelps and some of the other athletes during the 2016 summer Olympics. However, many massage therapists have used cupping techniques for far longer periods of time. In fact, cupping has been around for hundreds of years. Only recently has it risen to the forefront of people’s minds.
Even if you aren’t an athlete, cupping therapy presents many different benefits. If you suffer from certain chronic pain disorders, cupping helps reduce the appearance of symptoms. While you’ll still have them, they won’t be as noticeable to you, helping you live a fuller life.
Alleviate Inflammation
If your athlete wants to decrease alleviation, cupping therapy is a great way to start. Through the suction of the cup to skin, fresh blood and fluid from your lymphatic system go into the area. This helps increase the circulation in your body. The increased circulation helps flush out any toxins from your body, thus helping your immune system. Overall, if you tend to experience pain from a workout or for an athletic event, cupping for athletes may help reduce the pain felt while providing other benefits to keep you going.
Decrease Recovery Time
To your student athlete, playing time is everything to them. That’s one of the reasons they get upset when an injury occurs. To limit the likelihood an injury following an event or match, turn to cupping therapy. While it’s important to follow all orders from your doctor, especially when it comes to physical therapy, cupping for athletes is a great therapy to use in addition to doctor-ordered treatments. When combining the two and following the recommendations from both programs, you can decrease the amount time your athlete isn’t competing.
Increase Flexibility and Range of Motion
Finally, cupping therapy helps to increases your athletes range of motion and overall flexibility. As we’ve already discussed, the suctioning helps improve blood flow and circulation. With more oxygen reaching your child’s muscles, it helps their overall workout. Through that, you may find your child has a better range of motion and more flexibility in their movements. If your child is feeling stiff in certain areas, cupping for athletes may help increase their flexibility.
Cupping for athletes presents many different benefits overall. At Therapeutic Medical Massage, we offer many different services that benefit athletes. In addition to cupping therapy, we also offer pre-sports massages and post-sports massages. If you or your athlete are interested in learning more about massage can help their overall performance, contact Aruna now for more information.