The KNEAD for SPEED
The pros wouldn’t dream of skipping their post-ride massage, and a bit of muscle manipulation can help the everyday rider as well
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For pro riders, getting a massage is as big a part of the Tour de France as posing on the podium and swearing at camera crews. Yet what actually happens when they disappear for a rub down is something of a mystery. A sports massage certainly sounds important, but that’s not to say many of us know precisely why. ‘Massage has been around for hundreds of years,’ says sports therapist Ian Holmes (prosportsmassages.com), who works as a soigneur for UCI Pro Continental team Madison Genesis. ‘It puts pressure on blood vessels and forces blood through at a cellular level to areas that aren’t getting blood flow as readily. Exercise causes microdamage to the tissues, and massage aids recovery by helping blood reach these areas so you can train harder, with less rest.’
That sounds like something every rider could benefit from. And although ‘sports massage’ may sound like a highly specialised form of the treatment, that’s not necessarily the case. ‘Sports massage is a concept,’ says Nick Dinsdale, founder of NJD Sports Injury Centre (njdsportsinjuries.co.uk) and former sports therapist for Chris Boardman and British Cycling. ‘It’s simply massage, used in sport for a variety of reasons to meet a range of objectives. It works in a number of ways: by reducing excessive post-exercise muscle tone, by increasing the muscles’ range of motion, by increasing circulation and nutrition to damaged tissue and by deactivating symptomatic trigger points.’
‘Sport massage uses general massage techniques but does tend to go a bit deeper than you’d get at a spa, and the level of discomfort might be greater,’ adds Holmes. ‘At a spa you get a body polish, which is still not without its benefits because a massage should be relaxing as well.’
A skin quartet
There are four reasons for having a sports massage, Dinsdale says: ‘Athletes use pre-event massage to prepare for training or competition. They use post-event massage to aid recovery, regular conditioning massage to reduce injury risk, and massage to assist in treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries. What you’re trying to achieve will affect what sort of massage you have.’
Cyclists ask a lot of their bodies, and for the average rider the most beneficial massage will happen when they get off the bike. ‘In periods of intense training, the body may not recover fully between training sessions, which can result in reduced performance and increased susceptibility to soft tissue injury,’ says Dinsdale. ‘Plus, athletes who suddenly increase their training intensity often experience delayed-onset muscle soreness [DOMS].’
‘As a cyclist you want a deep tissue, flushing massage,’ says sports therapist Laura Dent (lsetreatmentclinic.co.uk). ‘This means a firm pressure that clears waste substances out of the muscles. Waste substances are the byproducts of your body providing energy to the muscles, and include lactic acid and carbon dioxide. If these aren’t cleared, recovery time is much slower and healing time delayed.’
Pain is an indicator that something’s wrong and that you should stop, but the sports therapist can help you heal quicker. ‘If you go to your GP, they’ll tell you to take painkillers and rest,’ says Holmes. ‘That’s not to put down GPS, because they don’t want people making their injuries worse, but a sports therapist will get you riding again by treating you and gradually reintroducing the training load.
‘There are many techniques, but one common one is trigger point massage, which works on set, tender areas of the body,’ he says. ‘A small area can affect the whole muscle. So if you have a sore back, working one or two trigger points can ease the pain.’
‘A good masseur will go deeper the more regularly you go,’ says ABCC senior coach and former pro team manager Ian Goodhew. ‘Working a muscle is like kneading dough, which will be more fibrous after it’s been moved around. In the short term it’s about aiding recovery. In the longer term it can help muscle tone and help muscles respond better to exercise. The benefit grows the more you ride.’
‘Massage is also about restoring muscle length,’ Holmes adds. ‘If you’re sat at a desk all day your hip flexors will be shortened – your muscles adapt to the length your body needs them to be for whatever it’s doing, and massage can reset them. A lot of the time I’m working against the negative effects of posture during the day.’
You might also hear a sports therapist talk about knots in a muscle. ‘A “knot” is known by therapists as an adhesion,’ says Dent. ‘This is a formation of old tissue that hasn’t been cleared away as it should – something that happens more with age. It can be formed by broken muscle tissue, scar tissue and waste byproducts. It clumps together, getting in the way of new muscle cells, and can be painful if nerve endings are attached. Massage helps break these down and encourages the body to clear them away.’
Having a rub down isn’t the only thing you can do to help prevent injuries. Warming up before you ride and stretching once you’ve finished can complement any massage you might have.
‘There are different schools of thought on stretching,’ says Ian Holmes. ‘People used to stretch before exercise but research found that this can actually decrease power output. I prefer a dynamic warm-up, using functional movements similar to the exercise you’re doing, such as forward lunges or a stint on rollers.’
‘Depending on how massage is applied, it can have similar effects to stretching on certain soft tissue structures,’ says Dinsdale. ‘There are specific massage techniques that can be used to stretch localised tissue. But I’d recommend conventional stretching in combination with massage – especially where a rider has a specific problem or restriction in range of movement.’
‘Post-exercise stretching certainly helps, especially when the muscles are still warm,’ Holmes says. ‘For every muscle that expands, another contracts – for example quads and hamstrings – and tiny sections of muscle remain contracted. Stretching helps iron these out, so I’d recommend doing that straight after exercise and having a massage an hour or so later. A good masseur will give you advice on stretching, exercise or using a roller – it’s not just laying hands. They’ll treat you holistically rather than just rub your legs.’
That’s not to say your legs aren’t important, Holmes adds. ‘Of course in cycling legs are the engine and will benefit from massage, but a lot of cyclists have more problems with their neck and back. The pros are used to riding for six or seven hours at a time so massage will concentrate on the legs, but leisure cyclists suffer more with the back, neck, hip flexors and even glutes.’
Dinsdale agrees, adding, ‘When you go for a massage, you should always have clear objectives in your mind as to what you’re trying to achieve. Don’t just ask for a leg massage because you’ve spent four hours pedalling.’
When push comes to shove
The case for massage seems undeniable, but what would actually be the difference in terms of performance if the pros didn’t get a massage after each day of a stage race?
‘This is a good question,’ says Dinsdale. ‘I do believe there are real physiological and psychological benefits to post-race massage. It helps the rider relax and sleep better, and sleep itself helps recovery.’
‘The pros will be on the bench for 45 minutes and there’s a huge mental element to it,’ Holmes adds. ‘The brain controls the muscles, so when you’re tense the muscles are tighter. On the Tour of Britain I was giving massages every day, and this is definitely in part for psychological reasons. A stage race is taxing and your body is slowly breaking down every day. Massage slows the breakdown and without it the risk of injury is a lot higher. It’s for maintenance and a speedy recovery, as well as trying to cure any niggles. It can be like spinning plates.
‘At the highest level there is constant stress on every rider, from their rivals, from the press and from within their teams,’ he adds. ‘A soigneur builds a rapport with his riders – they’ll spend an hour on the bench with you, with no team manager or reporters. They can talk to you and you build up a level of trust. If the brain gives way the body can’t function. Little niggles can become big problems.’
‘A good masseur is the person the riders will always talk to,’ Goodhew agrees. ‘They might have aches and pains or a bruise from a fall that they don’t want to talk about, so they’ll ask the masseur for advice and help. The masseur will likely then discreetly tell the team manager about it so they can react.
‘What people don’t realise is that massage is therapeutic beyond the specifics,’ he adds. ‘It’s very emotional. You’re laying yourself bare to that person, literally. And that goes for both the pro and the amateur alike.’
How much, how often?
If you’re sold on the benefits of massage, the next question is how often you should have one. ‘This depends on the reasons and objectives,’ says Dinsdale. ‘Ideally, you should have one after each endurance event to help promote
‘Massage is therapeutic beyond the specifics. It’s very emotional. You’re laying yourself bare to that person’
recovery and help relaxation ready for the next session or stage of a race. Pre-event massage is more appropriate for short, explosive events such as sprints, to stimulate mind and body. Regular weekly routine massage is good to identify potential soft tissue problems – the objective is to prevent overuse injuries and help control fatigue. When riders have soft-tissue injuries, massage can be used throughout the various stages of healing to speed up recovery, in combination with other forms of treatment.’
‘It also depends on your budget,’ says Holmes. ‘If money’s no option I’d say weekly or fortnightly. If it’s the latter you can use foam rollers at home to help target specific areas in between. But if you can’t afford it that regularly, every couple of months is OK too. It’s also good for reminding people what they should be doing. It’s like when you go to a physio and they give you exercises to do – you do them for a couple of weeks and then forget. I’d say there’s a false economy in cycling – people spend a lot of money on fancy new kit but not on their bodies. It’s best to go for a massage before you get an injury. Most of my regulars don’t tend to get injured because they know about recovery. It’s the ones who come and see me irregularly who need treating because they’ve hurt themselves.’
‘Ultimately it’s down to the rider, and how he or she feels, but you’re likely to benefit more during a period of intense training,’ says Dinsdale. ‘Fatigue levels and tissue distress can build up rapidly. Lower-intensity rides are less destructive on tissue, produce less waste and are psychologically less draining.’
If you talk to enough cyclists about massage, the chances are you’ll find one who says that it hurts, but that it’s OK because it’s actually doing ‘good’ damage. You might want to think twice about using their therapist.
‘“Good damage” isn’t a phrase I’d ever want to hear a therapist say to me,’ says Dent. ‘A massage doesn’t have to be painful to be beneficial. The “flushing” usually comes from a stroke called effleurage and isn’t painful.’
‘Massage is one of the safest therapies, but knowledge of the anatomy is essential,’ says Holmes. ‘A bad massage can cause bruising and actually accelerate other problems. The system of valves in our veins are one-way, designed to help blood flow from the heart, around the body and back to the heart. You should always massage towards the heart, forcing blood through but in the right direction. Getting it wrong can damage the vessels, although that’s unlikely if you’re getting a light massage from your partner.’
‘If a massage doesn’t work towards the heart it pushes the waste further into the legs,’ says Dent. ‘This shouldn’t cause long-term damage but it can take the body longer to recover and heal. There are also areas that should not be worked on without the appropriate knowledge such as behind the knee, the abdomen and the neck.’
‘Massage can be mildly painful but shouldn’t really hurt or leave you bruised,’ Goodhew adds. ‘If it does, don’t use that person again.’
Timing is everything
‘The pros have a massage within an hour of getting off the bike, but for the rest of us it’s a very individual thing,’ says Holmes. ‘You need to see what works for you, although I wouldn’t recommend having your first massage before a big event. Often cyclists have it on a Monday, after a big ride or race on Sunday. They might be a bit sore on Tuesday but will be OK by Wednesday.’
‘I’d ask my client what their plan is,’ he adds. ‘If you have tender trigger points or a deep massage you can feel discomfort for 24 to 48 hours afterwards, but you should still be able to do a 30-minute recovery ride. This will help flush the soreness out of the muscles.’
Just make sure you find someone who knows what they’re doing. ‘There are many qualifications out there, some good and some not so good,’ says Dinsdale. ‘Massage should be safe and effective. Experience is essential in any profession, and masseurs applying for major sporting events – such as the Olympics – require a minimum of 500 hours practical sports massage. A good massage therapist should also have an understanding of human anatomy, physiology and pathology, and the ability to apply this knowledge when practising massage.’
‘If you’re riding every day – on holiday or on a stage race – you’re riding in a state of partial recovery and you may not be used to it,’ says Goodhew. ‘Massage becomes even more important in that case.’
Michael Donlevy is a freelance journalist who has never been known to rub people up the wrong way
‘I’d say there’s a false economy in cycling – people spend a lot of money on fancy new kit but not on their bodies’