Fitness is a word that can mean many different things to many different people. For starters, fitness may refer to a physical state of well-being or a mental and emotional state of well-being, or perhaps a combination of both. Therefore, all kinds of activities that aim to boost physical, mental and emotional well-being would fit beneath the broad umbrella concept of fitness.
A few obvious examples of actions that could easily be defined as important aspects of fitness might be lifting weights, jogging or stretching. However, fitness also extends into such areas as eating certain foods for better health, taking yoga classes for flexibility and mental clarity, and receiving massage.
In fact, massage could be considered a vital element of overall fitness. If you look at professional athletes, you will often find massage is a key component of their lives. The same goes for people who may not be professional athletes, but who engage in activities such as golf, tennis, marathons, mountain biking and so many other fitness-based hobbies on a regular basis.
There are several reasons massage can be viewed as such a critical component of fitness, especially for those who make a living through their fitness or invest a large amount of time in a hobby that requires fitness. Reason number one may be the fact these athletes are using their bodies, often in a physically intense manner, on a repetitive basis.
This means their bodies may need the aid of massage in order to remain capable of engaging in these physically rigorous actions over and over again. Without investing the time for proper recovery and care, the athlete’s body may be more likely to suffer the wear and tear of all the action, making the body vulnerable to injury and possibly decreasing one’s performance level.
This is where massage becomes such a powerful piece of fitness, because massage is geared toward helping the body heal and recover more quickly between bouts of activity. Instead of taking days off to rest and recover after a tough workout or competitive sports match, the fitness-focused individual can receive a massage and press fast forward on the recovery process.
Besides the major advantage of speedier healing and better maintenance of one’s physical body, massage also brings several other fitness benefits to the table. One of these benefits goes back to the notion that fitness is not just about the physical body, but also about a person’s mental and emotional state. By inducing a state of relaxation, massage can help to calm the mind and alleviate mental and emotional stress, tension or anxiety.
In today’s busy world, there are many people who could benefit from the mental and emotional fitness that regular massage sessions can help create. Therefore, the notion of massage as central to fitness is not just for the athletes among our population, but for anyone who would like to increase their own sense of wellness.