Hamstrings are one of the most commonly injured muscles, even in professional athletes, and can cause severe pain and discomfort while healing. Fortunately, sport's massage can be a great way to speed healing and find relief when suffering from an injury to the hamstrings. A few tips can show you how.
Instructions
1. Have your client use their own muscles to relieve tension build up in the hamstrings, a very common sport's massage technique. By engaging the muscles against resistance, the muscles can be elongated to reduce tension on the tendons and the muscle belly. Your client should be face down on the massage table with legs relaxed.
2. Hold your client's ankle and ask him to gently press his knee into the table while trying to lift the lower leg. The client should only use about 20 percent of his muscle strength, while you keep his leg in place with your hand. Have him hold the pressure against your hand for 8 to 10 seconds and then ask him to relax, Repeat three times and then perform the massage technique on the opposite leg.
3. Use the same sport's massage trick to engage another part of the hamstrings, picking the lower leg of your client up off the table, bending at a 90-degree angle while holding the ankle with your hand. Have her press down against your hand, again, with 20 percent strength; however, she should not lift any part of her body off of the table. After 8 to 10 seconds have her relax and then move the heel closer towards her buttocks. Repeat the technique, increase the stretch after each hold by moving the heel closer and closer to the buttocks.
4. Work a bit deeper into the hamstrings by using a sport's massage friction technique. Hold the leg upright in a 90-degree angle and place your lower hand at the client's ankle. Place your palm into the hamstrings, using the bones of your lower forearm if he finds it comfortable, and then rock the leg back and forth, or rotate in circles. The motion of the lower leg causes the hamstrings to stretch and move under your palm, allowing you to easily work deep into the tissue.
Tags: sport massage, your hand, 90-degree angle, against your, against your hand, client ankle, client should