Throughout training and rigorous regular athletic activity, massage helps prevent injuries. Areas of muscle stress can result from repetitive or stressful motion and are typically precursors to injury. Sports massage assists and relieving muscular stress and preventing injuries, enabling harder and more consistent training. Injuries are commonly experienced when an individual has overtrained, fails to sufficiently warm-up, receives trauma, or has muscular imbalances, poor flexibility, mineral deficiencies, or inadequate endurance. Areas of stress in other muscles, created through compensating for an injury can be eased with a regular sports massage regimen.
Sports massage can partially compensate for lack of exercise while recovering from injury.
Sports massage is also used to relieve muscular spasms and fatigue-relate injuries.