Category: Nutrition

Basketball is an excellent way to stay in shape, develop sportsmanship and athleticism, as well as actively involve yourself in your community.  Being very active in basketball or any sport can wreak havoc on the body. Whether you faced with a common injury or really tight and over worked muscles running around a court may require a little body love and awareness.

As the body engages itself to perform specific movements, the muscles contract. This constant contraction is what helps to develop the muscles and strengthen them specific to certain movements. This constant contraction is what also make them tight and even ache.

Regular massage will not only help alleviate muscle fatigue and tightness, but also help improve athletic performance.

“There are many massage styles to choose from”, says a deep tissue massage therapist in Fort Collins, CO and owner of Premium Massage Spa.

We asked him what massage style is best for athletes, specifically basketball players.

He said that a sports focused massage and deep tissue massage are usually the best options for athlete. Sports massage uses a variety of techniques and style to address the issues at hand. Being the muscles are constantly activated when playing sports, this massage style aides in getting the muscles to respond and relax to create space for better range of motion and movement.

Deep tissue massage works deeply into the tissues of the muscles. When a muscle is used to being tight, the depth of pressure and strokes can help to release the muscle. Deep tissue focuses on using slow, long, deep strokes to alleviate tension, stress and fatigue.

When choosing a massage therapist, Kingysa recommends asking what areas of massage they specialize. If you need a specific style, such as a sports massage or deep tissue, then he suggests that the therapist has expertise in that area. As you build a relationship with your massage therapist they will begin to learn your body and the way that it responds to bodywork.

Massage offers more than just tension and stress release. Massage will also aid in improved blood flow and range of motion. Our blood carries the necessary oxygen and nutrients to tissues, muscles and organs of the body. Increase blood flow improves the amount of oxygen and nutrients the body receives. Oxygen and nutrients are essential parts of overall health and healthy body functions.

If you have sports basketball injuries, massage can also help with soft tissue strains and injuries.

Massage truly offers a wide range of benefits. There is not a one size fits all style. A trained and professional therapist will offer their expertise in helping you to find the best massage style to fit your lifestyle and body needs.

Enjoy the game and the recovery!

Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking. How many calories can I lose by playing basketball? But the thing is, obviously that’s not the only benefit of playing basketball. I mean, you’d lose weight with probably any physical activity. But when it comes to playing a sport, you’ve got to think beyond just losing a few measly calories. So, here are some of the health benefits of basketball.

Basketball’s gonna help you lose weight

The most obvious and maybe even the most popular health benefit. Basketball is quite fast paced, it’s intense. So yes, it will help you lose weight. But again, you can’t expect *only* basketball to help you lose weight, and you can’t expect miraculous results. A good diet will form a major component of your weight loss program. If some sources on the internet are to be believed, you could lose about 550 calories an hour playing proper basketball on half court.

It’s good for your heart!

Basketball is also a great way to work on your cardiovascular fitness. It helps build cardiovascular endurance. Let me explain this a bit.
Cardiovascular fitness refers to the ability of the heart to pump oxygen rich blood to the muscle tissues that need it. Our muscles will use this oxygen for energy during sustained physical activity. Cardiovascular endurance could be thought of a measure as to how fit your heart is, and a measure of your stamina. The better cardio endurance you have, the more efficient the body becomes at using oxygen, and the lower your heart rate. Cardiovascular fitness will also reduce your chances of getting a heart disease or a stroke.
Basketball is a very good way to increase your endurance given its vigorous and intense workout.

It’s also good for your bones!

First let’s see what our bones are made up of. When you try and imagine a bone, you’re thinking of its outer shell – which is dense, hard, calcified material, and it’s called the matrix. This actually houses living cells inside, named osteoblasts, and osteoclasts. Osteoblasts are the productive guys, they keep producing new bone matrix. On the other hand osteoclasts are the slackers. They keep degrading the bone matrix. For the bones to become stronger and denser, the osteoblasts must produce the outer matrix at a faster rate than what is degraded by the osteoclasts. Basketball helps us in this. Because basketball needs us to run in short bursts, to jump and stretch, it stimulates the osteoblasts to produce new bone matrix in the legs, spine, and pelvis.
Also due to the stress placed on the joints, the ligaments joining the bones become stronger.

It helps you calm down!

A team sport helps you socialize a bit. It is also a known fact that playing sports cheers you up, and hence you have a better immune system too.

So, what are you waiting for? Start shooting some hoops!