A massage can help speed up your recovery by improving blood circulation and bringing more oxygen and nutrients to your muscle tissue. Whether it's cardio, strength training or HIIT, there are massage techniques like Shiatsu, Swedish and deep tissue that you can pair with your workout routines for muscle pain relief and body relaxation. 

It’s common to have a massage after an exercise, but others opt to get it before their intense workout sessions. With this, you might be wondering when’s the best time to have a massage. Is it before or after your workout? Let’s dive in.   

Why You Should Get A Massage Before Exercise 

Body conditioning ahead of your workout prepares you physically and lowers your injury risk. Stretch Coach Brad Walker  says that warm-up, which is necessary to condition your body, prepares you “for the demands of [your] chosen sport or exercise.”

A massage therapy may be a vital part of your body conditioning activities to avoid muscle strains or tears during your exercise activity. It makes your stretching routine and muscle warm-up more effective. 

If you’re thinking of getting a pre-workout massage, you will get to enjoy these benefits:  

1.It helps improve your flexibility

The Professional Massage Academy cites proper flexibility as one of the top benefits of massage therapy. With flexibility, it says you’re able to improve your range of motion to lessen your risks of muscle tightness and damage and prevent joint pain and strain.Being flexible helps improve your mobility and muscle coordination, allowing you to perform some of your exercise routines with ease.   

 2. It boosts your workout performance

According to the American Massage Therapy Association, massage therapy can boost the performance of those who engage in exercise and athletes in training. A massage activates blood flow to your muscles and increases your oxygen level crucial to your intense body movements. 

You can conveniently enjoy a deep-tissue massage at home or at the gym by using a handheld massage gun. This portable, handheld device  is designed to bring you the benefits of a massage, including blood flow stimulation, anywhere and anytime.  

3. It prepares you mentally for your workout

Getting a massage before your exercise will also help motivate and get you in the right mind frame, motivating you to tackle even the most intense parts of your workout. Physio.co.uk says that a stimulating pre-event massage readies people both physically and mentally for their workout performance.

Why Have A Massage After Working Out

Like a pre-exercise massage, having a post-workout massage has its own benefits too. Here are the benefits that you may experience should you decide to get one: 

1. It eases post-exercise pain

A 2014 study found that massage therapy can impede your body’s pain signal pathways to help ease pain. The  Harvard Health Publishing   also notes that therapeutic massage may relieve pain by relaxing your muscles, tendons, and joints as well as relieving stress and anxiety.  With these benefits, you may have a massage to ease and manage your muscle pain after a particularly intense workout or training. 

2. It speeds up muscle recovery

A massage helps your body recuperate faster by reducing inflammation and increasing blood flow to the affected areas for better movement. A study  found how a massage shows “promise for regenerating a wide variety of tissues including bone, tendon, hair, and skin,” resulting in stronger and faster muscle recovery.   

A Massage Before or After Workout: Which one is better?

A massage before or after your workout has its own advantages. A massage before your workout is more practical if you need to activate your muscles. Post-workout, a massage is great for your sore muscles and increased regeneration of your muscle fibers.  

There is no definitive answer to this question. Ultimately, your needs will determine whether you need to have a deep-tissue massage pre- or post-workout or both. If you want to learn more about recovery tools that can give you a deep-tissue massage, click here.