You already know that recovery is just as important as the workout if you train, run, lift, bike, or move your body daily. At Cielo Spa & Wellness in Old City, Philadelphia, we help regular athletes and fitness-minded people who want to heal faster, stay on track, and avoid injuries that slow them down.

Sports massage therapy is a useful way to ease pain, improve range of motion, and help you perform better over time. You will learn what sports massage truly accomplishes, when to book it, and how to easily incorporate it into your weekly self-care or training regimen in this guide.

What Makes Sports Massage Different From Regular Massage?

Sports massage isn’t just a fancy way to say “harder massage.”  It’s a whole new way of doing things.

Traditional spa massages are great for relaxing. You could say they are like a reset button for the whole body. You lie there with soft music playing and maybe some lavender in the air, and you fall into that happy place between being awake and asleep. That is definitely a time and place for that.

But athletic massage? That’s focused, planned, and well-thought-out. We’re working on certain muscle groups to get your body ready for performance or to help it heal from the battering you just gave it at the gym.

When I work on an athlete’s body, I think about the orientation of their muscle fibers, the constraints of their fascia, their trigger points, and their movement patterns. My team and I at Cielo, including our amazing female therapists who contribute their unique skills to each session, focus on the areas that require the greatest work. The IT band, hip flexors, and calves are the most common areas for runners. For people who do CrossFit? Shoulders, lats, and quads get a lot of work.

The Science Behind Sports Massage Therapy (Yes, It Actually Works)

The American Massage Therapy Association looked at a lot of studies and found that massage can help with a lot of things, like lowering muscle tension, helping athletes keep track of their muscle tone, promoting relaxation, increasing range of motion, improving soft tissue function, and lowering muscle stiffness and fatigue after exercise. The most important thing is that it can also lower delayed onset muscle soreness (that awful feeling of “I can’t walk down stairs” two days after leg day).

One study indicated that getting a massage two hours after a hard workout made DOMS a lot less painful. Another study found that athletes who got massages did better in their next sessions than those who merely rested. In fact, a study published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine indicated that the best way to keep up peak performance time was to combine massage with active recuperation.

This number blew your mind: one study found that fitness massage made people better at using a bike ergometer, no matter what their blood lactate levels were. Basically, riders pedaled harder and longer after getting a massage, even if their lactate levels (the stuff that makes you feel burned) didn’t alter much. The improvement was linked to a quicker recovery from muscle stiffness and exhaustion.

The market for sports massagers is expected to expand from $500 million in 2025 to $1.5 billion by 2033, which is a 12% annual growth rate. Why? People are finally starting to see that massage and exercise are not two different ways to be healthy. They’re two sides of the same coin.

Types of sessions useful for exercisers

At Cielo, we select techniques based on goals. Here’s how we typically use each approach for training needs:

Pre-event / pre-workout (short, 10–20 minutes)
Light mobilizing strokes, neuromuscular activation, and fast release are all meant to help with the range of motion and stiffness before a competition.

Post-workout / recovery (20–40 minutes)
This is when you’ll see the most advantages from post-workout massage: gentle myofascial manipulation, lymphatic methods, and targeted compression to ease discomfort and help tissues heal.

Maintenance/performance (45–90 minutes)
Deeper athletic massage or sports massage therapy that focuses on long-lasting release, breaking up adhesions, and restoring function across kinetic chains.

Injury-focused care
Short, focused sessions with rehab exercises and advice on how to take care of yourself at home.  When necessary, we work with medical professionals.

When to book: timing and frequency

Here’s a practical plan:

• Maintenance (general fitness): once every 3–4 weeks
• Training block / heavy load: weekly or biweekly sessions
• Competition week: light, targeted work 24–48 hours before the event; recovery work after the event
• Acute injury: coordinate with your healthcare provider; short, focused sessions as advised

If you want to prioritise performance, treat massage like mobility work or sleep — regularity matters.

Simple aftercare to boost results

You don’t need complicated routines. After a session, we recommend:

• Hydrate well (water helps circulation and recovery)
• Gentle active recovery, walking, or light cycling later in the day
• Mobility drills or prescribed stretches to maintain the gains
• Sleep — the body does most repair overnight

These small steps multiply the impact of a single session.

Book a sports massage at Cielo Spa & Wellness

Try sports massage therapy if you work out and want to train smarter, not simply harder. Make an appointment with me, Jorge McKechnie, or any of our other qualified therapists. We’ll customize your treatment to fit your sport, training schedule, and goals. If you book online for the first time, you can get $20 off. To book your seat, call +1 347 665 6263 or send an email to office@cielo-spa.com. Come see us at 131 N 4th St., Philadelphia, PA 19106.

Bring your training schedule, tell us what’s tight, and we’ll design a plan that keeps you moving — stronger and more reliably.

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