There is no question that having a massage makes you feel great. Massage can relieve stress, help you recover from hard physical activity or injury and even reduce anxiety. But did you also know that it may help you achieve your weight loss goals, too?
Today, you’ll often hear about different diets and procedures such as the ketogenic diet, different cosmetic slimming procedures, and discussion about injectables that help with weight loss. While these all can be effective for weight loss, we like knowing that simply getting a massage helps lose weight!
Research shows that getting a massage can have a positive effect on your muscle-building capabilities and fitness levels, which in turn increases your capacity to control or lose weight. Healthy strong muscles burn calories and give you the freedom to participate in all sorts of sports and activities that can help you burn excess calories and improve your overall fitness and well-being.
Massage has been shown to improve circulation and the supply of nutrition to the muscles. Massage therapy increases the interchange of vital substances between the blood and tissue cells, which increases tissue metabolism. After muscles are exercised, vital nutrients must be supplied to them so they can recover and rebuild themselves. Massage maximizes the supply of these nutrients and oxygen though increased blood flow, which in turn helps the muscles grow and burn more calories as a result. Massage also improves your muscle’s range of motion and flexibility. This allows them to maintain maximum power and performance while active, and burn the maximum number of calories in the process. Improved range of motion and flexibility also reduces the need for muscle repair. Having a wide range of motion and maximum muscle flexibility also reduces the danger of experiencing injuries during exercise which can severely limit activity.
Massage helps to shorten the recovery time needed between your workouts. Waste products such as lactic acid and carbonic acid build up in muscles during and after exercise. Increased circulation to these muscles helps to eliminate toxic debris buildup caused by these waste products and in doing so shortens recovery time. A weight-loss massage can also help reduce the chance of you over-training. It has a relaxing effect on the muscles and a sedative effect on the nervous system. Massage can also reduce the likelihood of you experiencing over-training syndrome, which is known to limit your ability to build strong healthy muscles and therefore lose weight with maximum efficiency. In addition to all of the above, massage may directly aid in fat loss. According to some research studies, massage is thought to be able to burst the fat capsule in subcutaneous tissue so that the fat exudes and becomes absorbed in this way combined with proper nutrition and exercise, which massage may actually help in weight loss. Whether this is true or not, one thing is for sure, massage is a great thing to do on a regular basis. It feels great and brightens up your day.