Rob Zukowski is a New York State LMT, certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, a Certified Medical Massage Therapist and holds a degree in Occupational Studies, with a focus on massage therapy, from the prestigious Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences. He has advanced training in sports massage, various relaxation therapies, and training in multi-therapeutic approaches to massage for oncology.

In addition to private practice, his experience includes being a massage therapist, lead therapist and member relationships manager in assorted fitness centers, spas, clinics and holistic healing settings and working in corporate wellness environments. Rob also works as a client services manager at a healing center, authors his own column on the subject of complementary and alternative medicine in a national HIV/AIDS magazine, works in student outreach and lectures on therapeutic massage for various pathologies.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Massage and Muscle Recovery



There are various types of massage therapy – deep tissue, Swedish, sports and many more. The type of session you have should be discussed with your massage therapist and based upon your specific therapeutic goals. While massage therapy is often both seen and advertised as a means of relaxation, which has health benefits all its own, there are other physiological benefits, such as muscle recovery, that we should not ignore. Muscle recovery is just one of the benefits that can enhance your workout, help prevent injury and assist you in reaching your goals.

As a whole, our bodies require nutrition and oxygen to thrive and survive. Our muscles, specifically, are no different. After any workout, muscles can become inflamed and there is always some level of tearing of muscle fibers. But, how do muscles repair themselves? How do they recover? Nutrition and oxygen are needed. How do we increase nutrition and oxygen to a specific area? Improved circulation – and massage therapy is known to increase circulation.


In addition to enhanced nutrition and oxygenation to muscle tissue, there have been many studies regarding the impact of massage therapy on a cellular level and relating to muscle tissue recovery. One such study, for example, put participants through a difficult workout to examine muscle tissue. In order to see the impact of massage therapy, samples of muscle tissue were taken before and after the exercise. The study revealed that massage reduced the production of something called cytokines. This compound plays a substantial role in the process of inflammation. Massage also stimulated something called mitochondria. These cells, which live in the muscle, convert glucose into the energy essential for muscle cell function and repair.

In another study, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, strength and proprioception were assessed in two groups - massage participants and non-massage participants. Proprioception, by the way, is our ability and awareness to sense where our body parts are in space. It’s how we place our foot on the ground to walk without stomping with every step and how we reach to scratch our noses without punching ourselves in the face. Proprioception is important for both injury prevention and the expression of strength and technique.

The results of this study showed improvement in levels of proprioception in the group that received massage after their workout. In addition, muscular strength analysis showed strength was greater in the group that received the massage as well.

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