The Philadelphia Marathon and Half-Marathon are next weekend and if you’re taking part, then you’re on the home-stretch. With that in mind, you’ll want to ensure that you remain injury free between now and then.
At Bryn Mawr Wellness, we offer a range of techniques to help you face race day in top condition. If you do sustain an injury or feel tightness in your muscles and joints this week, we can help keep you going so that all your hard work isn’t for nothing.
Deep tissue massage
Massages are often associated with stress relief but deep tissue massages are excellent for runners both pre- and post-race. Deep tissue massage focuses on not just the superficial layers of muscle, but the deep layers. They can be quite intense but help relief tight spots in muscles, which runners often experience.
Releasing the tightness gives you more flexibility and range of motion, helping you to run better. It also helps to prevent the muscles getting tense when pushed to their limits.
Active Release Techniques to keep in alignment
Active release technique is a soft tissue therapy that focuses on releasing tension in the muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerve points. During training, you can damage muscle tissue and if left untreated it can reduce performance as well as develop into a larger problem.
With active release technique we work on breaking down scar tissue to increase mobility and strength back to the muscle.
Adjustments
One of the most common treatments that we undertake, adjustments are used to re-align movement to a vertebrae that’s lost its ability to move the way in which it was designed. A lack of alignment can affect your whole body and place unnecessary strain on other muscles, resulting in injury. Being in alignment optimizes nerve conduction and flow, which improves the overall performance of your body.
Graston Technique
The Graston Technique® is essentially used to address a body’s limited range of motion caused by scar tissue. Using a specifically designed stainless steel instrument we increase the rate and amount of blood flow to and from an area which helps to reduce inflammation, heal muscles, speed the healing process and lessen one’s recovery time. This is a great technique if you have sustained a minor injury but still want to compete and is excellent for post-race recovery.
Pre-and post-race day
Our aim is to ensure that your muscles and your joints can withstand as much stress as possible. While training, try to listen to your body and don’t leave any discomfort until it’s too late. Coming in for a check up pre-race will help us to identify and eliminate any problems. Undertaking treatment after race-day will help speed your recovery… ready for your next challenge!
