Sports massage in Gainesville, FL for runners, lifters and club athletes

The calves, hamstrings, quads and hips are the obvious places to start, and a 60 minute session covers both legs and the hips properly. Mention your weekly mileage and whether a race is coming up. If your feet ache after long runs, a foot massage that begins with a soak in lavender, rose, herbs and sea salt is a separate booking from 30 minutes.

Name the lifts as well as the muscles. Pressing loads the chest, the front of the shoulders and the triceps; squats and deadlifts load the glutes, hips and lower back. Forearms are easy to forget after grip-heavy sessions such as deadlifts, pull-ups or climbing. If you plan to train a muscle hard the next day, ask for lighter work on it.

Contact sports leave bruises and knocks as well as tight muscles. Point out anything bruised, swollen or freshly sprained before the session starts, so the therapist can work around it rather than on it.

No. Firm pressure is fine if you ask for it, but pain during the session is a reason to ease off. Summarizing the fibromyalgia research, NCCIH notes the review authors' view that the therapist should not cause pain, and Mayo Clinic says you should not feel significant pain during a massage, though some forms can leave you a bit sore the next day.

NCCIH's safety summary points the same way. It calls the risk of harmful effects low, and among the rare serious problems on record, such as blood clots, nerve injury and bone fracture, some involved vigorous techniques like deep tissue massage or people already at higher risk of injury, such as older adults.

Use a number. Decide where you want the pressure on a scale of 1 to 10, say it at the start, and correct it out loud when the work drifts above it. A muscle you are bracing against the therapist's hands is harder to work on than one that has relaxed.

60 minutes suits most training weeks. It covers one region in depth, such as both legs and the hips, or the back, shoulders and arms. Book 90 minutes when you want the whole body done with extra time on one area, and 120 minutes after a race or a heavy block of training, when you want legs and back both worked without hurrying.

The price per minute is the same $1.33 at 60, 75, 90 and 120 minutes. The 30 and 45 minute sessions work out at $2.00 and about $1.56 a minute, and both are booked by phone.

The studio is at 5750 SW 75th Ct Ste 20, Gainesville, FL 32608, off Tower Rd near SW Archer Rd. From the UF campus it is about 7 miles, roughly 15 to 20 minutes along SW Archer Rd, and longer on game days and at class change. Hours are 9:30 AM to 10 PM every day, so a session after practice or an evening lift still fits; for the phone-only lengths, call (352) 339-6646.

Book Sports Massage when the reason is training, and Deep Tissue Massage when the reason is a stubborn ache from desk work, driving or posture. Sports Massage is planned around the muscles your sport uses. Deep Tissue works the deeper layers of muscle wherever the tension sits, and the owner notes that it does not always mean deep pressure. Both cost the same at every length.

If what you want after a race is to lie down and be looked after, Swedish Massage or Relaxation Massage is the gentler choice at the same price.

Cupping is a $30 add-on to a massage; to add it, call (352) 339-6646 or ask at the studio. It can leave round marks on the skin for some days, worth knowing before a meet in a swimsuit or singlet, and our cupping therapy page explains what the marks are. Essential Oils, in ginger, rose or lavender, add $10.

It can leave worked muscles feeling looser and ease soreness for a while; lasting effects are harder to show. For low-back pain, a 2015 review of 25 studies with 3,096 participants found short-term improvement, though its authors had very little confidence in the low-quality studies behind it. The American College of Physicians' 2017 guidelines list massage as an option for acute and subacute low-back pain, and not for chronic low-back pain.

For neck and shoulder pain, NCCIH reports benefits that may last only a short time. For an athlete booking around an event or a hard week, the next few days are the window that matters anyway. Pain that keeps coming back belongs with a clinician.

Your sport, your last two days of training, your next hard session or event, and any injury. That lets the therapist decide where to spend the time and where to go lighter. NCCIH's tips on massage for health purposes add two habits worth keeping: ask a practitioner about their training and experience, and tell your health care providers about any complementary approach you use.

Florida licenses every massage therapist and massage establishment through the Florida Board of Massage Therapy, and NCCIH reports that 45 states and the District of Columbia regulate massage therapy. Sessions here are with licensed massage therapists, and the Department of Health's public license search lets anyone check a license.