MHP Report: Massage Therapy
To aid recovery for the next game, players are required to have massage to help their bodies cope with the amount of exercise they are doing.
AFL Footballers have rigid weekly training schedules so as part of their recovery for the next game they are required to have a massage to help their bodies cope with the amount of exercise they are doing.
St Kilda’s High Performance Manager, Peter Burge, encourages the players to have a massage two or three times a week to reduce their muscle tone.
“Massage is a part of every footballers weekly routine,” said Peter Burge.
“High tone in the muscle can sometimes be good for athletes but it can also tip them over the edge, in terms of being more injury prone.”
There are several modes of recovery for players post-match, so having a regular massage in conjunction with stretching your muscles before exercising can help reduce mucle tone.
“When your stretching, that stretches the muscle in a length-wise fashion, whereas massage and trigger-point work can help reduce the tone in the muscle and actually make the muscle just a little bit softer.”
St Kilda star forward, Stephen Milne books in a massage about two times a week.
“It helps rub out some of the bruises and aches I have during the week,” said Milne after his first massage of the week.
“I’ll get another one on Thursday just before the game to get the legs ready for game day on Friday and then I’ll have another one before the game.”
Milney said it helps relax his body before a game, and has his masseur focus on the key areas of the body that are used during a match.
“When you’ve been playing for 10 years massages are good and relaxing.,” he said.
“You can take it easy for 45 minutes while you get your calves, hammys and back done, so its good for you.”
The St Kilda Football players allocate their own massage times throughout the week, and can choose to have as many as they would like.
After training on a normal day at the Club, the players will into the massage room between 2pm and 4pm.
“There’s five or six masseurs at the Club and they do a great job to get the boys ready for game day.”
Watch the video above now.
Click here to watch last week's episode explaining the use of the Club's anti-gravity treadmill, starring Nick Riewoldt.
The Musashi High Performance Report gives Saints fans an inside look into the St Kilda Football players’ training routines.
