Pre-event effectiveness? Top 10 UK triathlete achieves PB after first prevent massage!

Proof that pre-event massage can improve performance came during the 2009 Newbury Triathlon when Aston Nicholls (in UK top 10 triathletes for his age-group) achieved PB commenting that usually he warms up during the swim however this time he already felt warmed up and was more effective earlier in the race.

There are always questions about the effectiveness of massage generally, but how effective is a pre-event massage prior to an athlete competing.  It’s important to understand the objectives of a prevent massage and agree with the athlete what exactly they and want to achieve – do they want a distraction and a gentle massage can help their overall relaxation before competing; or do they want to feel ‘fired’ up and ‘fresh’ for the start.  Aston Nicholls is in the top 10 UK triathletes for his age group.  The Newbury tri is on home turf so whilst it’s not one Aston gets nervous about, it is the ideal event to try new things whilst always attempting to better his last performance.  With Aston I did a 10 minute treatment 1 hour prior to his start time.  It consisted of a gentle warm up and a small amount of STR (soft tissue release) to the muscles Aston knows get tight generally – specifically hamstrings, ITB and quads.  The final few minutes were spent using ‘tapotement’ techniques – specifically hacking and cupping on his quads and hamstrings and the immediate feeling is one of ‘zinginess’.  Aston got up off the couch and said he felt ready and eager to get going his legs ‘excited’ and ‘firing’.  It turns out Aston not only achieved a personal best, but he knocked off 4 minutes off last year achieving 1hour 2 minutes!  He said that it usually takes him a while to warm up in the swim but he felt he was already warmed up so this was a bit of an ‘awakening’ as to the benefits of pre-event massage.  So convinced after his performance Aston came in for a 10minute post event massage as he felt his leg muscles beginning to stiffen up.  Whilst the aim of post event massage is not to replace a warm down, a lactate ‘flush’ can certainly aid the warm down and reduce the amount of stiffness experienced the next day.