Optimal Timing For A Deep Tissue Massage

A deep tissue massage can be wonderful for a range of conditions, from your muscles and joints being too tight and not flexible enough to lowering blood pressure. However, because deep tissue massage can be so deep, it can have an effect on how you feel for a day or so afterward and you might be more sore than you'd realized. If you're getting a deep tissue massage, schedule it with your other activities in mind so that you don't end up missing out on things you were planning to do. Here are some things to keep in mind. 

Frequency of Massages

If you are getting more than one massage done as part of a therapeutic treatment, space them out at least a couple of days apart. You can get more than one massage per week, but even if they are the best-feeling therapy you've ever had, you really don't want to have more than one every two to three days. Your muscles will need time to recover from something that is essentially a workout for them. Just as you would schedule intense leg workouts at the gym on nonconsecutive days to give those muscles a chance to rest, so should you schedule these intense massages on nonconsecutive days to let your muscles recover.

Working Around Working Out

If you plan to get the max number of massages you can in a week and you also plan to work out a lot, reconsider that timing. You shouldn't exercise for about a day after a deep tissue massage, again, because your muscles need to recover and because you may be rather sore. Even if you're just planning to jog and have the massage done only on your back, the jogging can still engage muscles in your lower and upper back as you move your legs and arms. However, if you want to work out the day before a massage, that should be fine.

The Aftermath of Your First Few Times

Chances are you'll be sore after your first few massages, if not after more of them. When you first start out, try arranging for the massages on days before you have a day off, like on Friday afternoons if you don't work weekends. If you don't have a very flexible schedule and don't want to limit yourself to only one massage each week, try at least to schedule the massages for times when you have a lot of free time afterward that day. As you get used to how you feel after each massage, you'll get a better idea of what you can do in the hours and days afterward.

A deep tissue massage is a helpful physical therapy available for people dealing with stiff muscles and related problems. Knowing how to integrate these massages and their effects into your weekly schedule helps them be more effective.