What Your Massage Therapist Isn't Telling You: The Truth About Massage for Runners with Matt Phillips

That massage isn't doing what you think it's doing. Not if you see massage as a way to flush toxins out of your system, improve your circulation, or work out your muscle knots. Then what good are massages for runners? Prepare to be enlightened by today's guest, Matt Philips, who is a running injury and performance specialist, as well as an expert in massage for runners.

 

Matt shares his knowledge with Coach Claire, dispelling a lot of common misconceptions about the benefits of massage for runners, but also talking about the benefits of massage for anyone, and he does so with a fair amount of humor! 

 

You may recognize Matt as a long-time RTTT and Extra Kick expert contributor. He started his career as a strength and conditioning coach with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. In 2004, he focused on sports therapy, working with distance runners and endurance athletes.

 

Matt is currently part of a multidisciplinary team of physiotherapists, sports therapists, osteopaths, podiatrists and massage therapists, as well as a lecturer in Anatomy & Physiology. He writes for numerous websites and national magazines, including Runners Connect and Outdoor Fitness.

 

Along with his running podcast and website called Run Chat Live, Matt holds an annual RCL International Running Conference. The first one was held in Brighton, Sussex with ten world class speakers traveling from Australia, Canada, and the United States. This year, the event has gone virtual, and will be held on October 29th and 30th. Listen to the show for the 20% off promo code.

 

Questions Matt is asked:

        

6:17 You are a running injury and performance specialist and massage therapist.  We could talk about any number of running topics, but today I'd like to focus on massage for runners.  Let's talk first about some of the myths about massages.  What are they and how did they get started?

 

11:49 What about the toxins? People talk all the time about, "Oh, I'm flushing the toxins. My muscles are building up all of these toxins from the environment or from my run." What does massage do for that?

 

13:18 Let's talk about something that actually does build up in the muscles when we run hard, and sometimes we're doing this on purpose, is to build up lactic acid. A lot of people think, "I'm going to go get a massage just to get rid of all that lactic acid." Do you want to talk about that one?"

 

15:49 If lactate is a good thing, why does it hurt so bad?

 

16:05 What about improving circulation?  I've heard that massage can help your circulation. Is that true? 

 

18:03 When I have gotten a massage, they always tell me to drink a lot of water afterwards, and I assume that's to flush out the toxins or whatever. Can you explain that? Why do they tell me to do that? 

 

19:51 Okay, so we know what massage doesn't do, what does it do?  

 

23:20 So, massage is good because it feels good?

 

24:26 I don't know how the idea of massage being good because it feels good is going to be received by people who get massages all the time because they swear by it, like, "Oh, I had a knot in my neck and she just worked at it and I feel better," or "Oh, I always get these cramps in my hamstring and after I get a massage, they're totally fine." There's got to be something else going on here other than just relaxation.

 

28:12 What is it with muscle knots? Do muscles really physically knot? I would love to know what's going on. You can sometimes feel like in your back a hard lump, and if you massage it, it can kind of smooth out. So what's going on under the skin? 

 

29:52 We often see those free massages at the end of a marathon. Should we be waiting in line for those or should we be skipping those?

 

31:26 Will massage make you less sore?

 

32:04 What about massage during taper week before your big race or a week after your big race? What do you think? 

 

35:18 If the main reason for a massage is relaxation, we can always choose other techniques such as getting into a hot tub or doing meditation or yoga. Is there something very specific about massage that is different from other relaxation techniques?

 

37:20 A lot of us are missing out on the power of touch with the COVID. Are there any ways to get a massage safely these days or replicate the massage experience at home?

 

39:00 On a more personal note, you are organizing an online running conference at the end of October.  Can you share the details about that?

 

Questions I ask everyone:

 

42:32 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you started running, what advice would you give?

 

44:35 What is the greatest gift running has given you?

 

45:48 Where can listeners connect with you?

 

Quotes by Matt:

 

"If you are with a therapist who is telling you they're breaking down scar tissue or they're re-molding your fascia or something or changing the length of your muscles, then you have to question yourself whether they're staying up to date with the latest evidence, and a lot of therapists aren't."

 

"Thanks to modern pain science and research which is developing, we know that you can't fight pain with pain."

 

"When we look and consider how important stress is in regards to delaying recovery, reducing the power of the immune system, on so many levels massage can help, not just runners, but any sports person, anybody, to function properly."

 

"One of the interesting things which we forget is there's plenty of people who have got pain when you push down on soft, unknotted tissue. There's not a clear parallel either in clinical practice or in studies showing a correlation between tightness or lumps and pain."

Take a Listen on Your Next Run

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Mentioned in this podcast:

Run Chat Live 2020 Info and Tickets

Run Chat Live

Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community

RunnersConnect Facebook page

claire@runnersconnect.net

Promo Code for the International Run Chat Live Running Conference October 29th and 30th: RTTT20 for 20% off

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