How Often Should I Get a Sports Massage? A Practical Guide
There is no single ideal frequency for sports massage.
How often you book depends on your training load, soreness or restrictions, goals, upcoming events and how you respond to treatment.
You don't automatically need a sports massage every week just because you train regularly.
During heavier training or competition periods, you may choose to book more often if muscular soreness or restrictions are affecting you.
Sports massage can support how you feel and move, but it shouldn't replace sensible training, sleep, nutrition and appropriate strength or mobility work.
If you're wondering how often you should get a sports massage, the most useful answer isn't “once a week” or “once a month”.
There isn't a scientifically established schedule that suits everyone.
Research into sports massage shows potential benefits for things such as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and flexibility, but it doesn't establish an ideal treatment frequency for every athlete or gym-goer.
How often you book should depend on why you're getting a massage in the first place, what your training currently looks like and how your body is responding.
How Often Should I Get a Sports Massage?
There is no universal rule for how often you should get a sports massage. Some people may book more regularly during demanding training periods, while others only book when muscular soreness, tightness or movement restrictions start affecting their training.
A large systematic review looked at 29 studies involving 1,012 participants. It found no evidence that sports massage directly improved strength, sprint, jump, endurance or fatigue measures, although there were small improvements in flexibility and DOMS.
Another meta-analysis reviewed 22 randomised controlled trials and found that the effects of massage on performance recovery were generally small, with the circumstances and timing of treatment potentially influencing the results.
That matters when discussing frequency.
If the evidence doesn't establish a universal performance benefit from massage, it doesn't make much sense to tell every active person they need one every 7, 14 or 30 days.
A better question is: what are you trying to get from the appointment?
What Determines How Often You Should Book?
Your sports massage frequency should reflect your training, symptoms, goals and individual response rather than following a fixed calendar.
Factors worth considering include:
How frequently and intensely you're training
Whether you're experiencing muscular soreness or tightness
Whether movement feels restricted
Whether a recurring problem is affecting your training
Changes in your recent training volume
Upcoming competitions or events
How you respond after treatment
What you're doing between appointments
Your available time and budget
Someone training hard for a competition may have very different needs from someone lifting three times per week recreationally.
The same person might also book differently at different points in the year.
I've worked with CrossFit athletes, powerlifters, HYROX competitors, runners, basketball and rugby players, and general gym-goers. What they need from sports massage can change considerably depending on what they're currently doing.
During a demanding training period, an athlete may want treatment because particular areas feel heavily worked or a position feels restricted. At another point in their training, they may not feel a need to book at all.
That's why I prefer to base treatment frequency on the individual rather than automatically putting every client on the same schedule.
Do You Need a Sports Massage Every Week?
No. You don't automatically need a sports massage every week just because you exercise regularly.
There may be situations where someone chooses to book weekly for a period, particularly when their training demands are high or there's a specific issue being monitored. That doesn't mean weekly massage is necessary for everyone.
More treatment isn't automatically better treatment.
A 2023 research review covering 114 articles found that massage generally didn't improve motor performance apart from flexibility. The research was more favourable for outcomes including soreness, perceived recovery and psychological measures.
That supports a more realistic way of looking at sports massage.
You don't need to treat it as something that must happen every week for your training to work. It can instead be used when there's a clear reason for the appointment.
For example, you might book because your calves feel heavily worked during a running block, your shoulders feel restricted after high-volume overhead training, or you've developed persistent muscular tightness that isn't settling with your usual training and recovery routine.
Should You Book More Often During Heavy Training?
You may choose to book sports massage more frequently during a particularly demanding training or competition period, but that doesn't mean everyone needs to.
Training volume and intensity can change how your muscles feel.
A hard competition, unusually high-volume session or sudden increase in workload may leave you with DOMS and muscular soreness. Massage is one option people use in this situation.
A DOMS meta-analysis covering 11 articles and 504 participants found massage was associated with reductions in muscle soreness after strenuous exercise.
The broader sports massage research, however, doesn't show that massage automatically improves every aspect of physical performance.
So if you've increased your training, the answer isn't simply to increase your massage frequency as well.
Look at the bigger picture.
If you're repeatedly feeling beaten up by training, it may also be worth considering your workload, exercise selection, sleep, nutrition and other recovery factors.
Massage can be one part of that picture rather than something used to compensate for training you aren't recovering from.
How Often Should You Get a Sports Massage Before Competition?
There is no standard pre-competition massage frequency that applies to every athlete. Timing, treatment intensity, your sport and what you need from the appointment all matter.
This is an area where more massage isn't necessarily better.
A systematic review of pre-performance massage found no evidence that massage improved maximal strength, sprint or jump performance. The researchers also found limited evidence suggesting longer passive massage immediately before performance could negatively affect some performance measures.
That doesn't mean you can never have a sports massage around competition.
It means the purpose and timing of the appointment need to make sense.
For example, I've worked with CrossFit athletes before events where muscular tightness was making positions such as the overhead squat or snatch receiving position feel restricted.
In that situation, I'm thinking about what the athlete needs to do next. I'm not simply applying the hardest treatment possible because there's a competition coming up.
If you've got an important event, tell your massage therapist what you're competing in, when the event is and what currently feels restricted.
That information can influence how the appointment is approached.
Sports Massage Shouldn't Replace Good Training Management
Sports massage can be useful, but it shouldn't become the only thing keeping your training together.
If an area repeatedly becomes tight or uncomfortable, continually massaging it without considering anything else may miss useful information.
Depending on the problem, I may also look at relevant movement, range of motion and strength. Your training volume, exercise selection and what you do outside the clinic can matter too.
This is where appropriate exercise aftercare can become useful.
You may benefit from a particular strengthening exercise, mobility drill, warm-up change or temporary adjustment to an aggravating movement.
Massage is the hands-on part of the appointment. What happens between appointments can matter just as much.
How Do I Know When It's Time to Book?
Consider booking a sports massage when muscular soreness, tightness or movement restrictions are affecting how you train or move, or when you want treatment planned around a demanding period of training or competition.
You don't necessarily need to wait for pain.
Some common reasons people book include:
Muscles repeatedly feeling tight or heavily worked
Soreness that is making normal movement uncomfortable
A position in training feeling restricted
A particular area becoming uncomfortable during repetitive training
A demanding competition or training block
Returning to training after a change in workload
Wanting an assessment of a persistent muscular problem
The reason you're booking helps determine what the appointment should involve.
If you're simply sore after a big week, your session may look different from someone whose shoulder repeatedly bothers them during overhead lifting.
If you're experiencing significant pain, numbness, tingling, radiating symptoms or something that doesn't feel like ordinary muscular soreness, that's also important to mention. Depending on your presentation, further investigation or referral may be more appropriate than simply increasing your massage frequency.
Does Sports Massage Improve Recovery?
Sports massage may help with some aspects of recovery, particularly perceived soreness and DOMS, but it shouldn't be presented as a guaranteed way to speed recovery or improve athletic performance.
The 29-study review mentioned earlier found small improvements in DOMS and flexibility but no evidence of improvements in strength, sprint, jump, endurance or fatigue.
Another broad systematic review found massage did not increase blood lactate clearance, which is one reason I don't explain sports massage using claims about “flushing lactic acid”.
A better way to think about massage is as one tool you can use alongside appropriate training and recovery practices.
If it helps you manage muscular soreness, address relevant restrictions or feel more comfortable moving, there can be a practical reason to include it.
You just don't need to pretend it does everything.
Should You Wait Until Something Hurts?
Not necessarily.
You can book a sports massage without having an injury.
I regularly work with active people dealing with muscular soreness, tightness and restrictions around training and competition. You don't need to be a professional athlete either.
At the same time, I don't think every active person needs a standing weekly massage appointment.
If you're moving well, training comfortably and don't have a particular reason to book, there isn't a rule saying you're overdue because a certain number of weeks have passed.
Your sports massage schedule should serve a purpose.
How Often Should You Get a Sports Massage? The Practical Answer
For most people, the best sports massage frequency is the one that matches their current training demands, symptoms and goals rather than an arbitrary weekly or monthly schedule.
If you're training comfortably, you may book occasionally when there's a reason.
If you're in a demanding training block, dealing with recurring muscular tightness or preparing for an event, you may decide that more regular appointments are useful for a period.
Then your frequency can change again as your circumstances change.
Current research supports keeping expectations realistic. Sports massage may help with soreness, DOMS, flexibility and how recovery feels, but it isn't a guaranteed shortcut to better performance.
Sports Massage in Liverpool
At My Massage Therapist, I provide assessment-led sports massage in Liverpool for CrossFit athletes, lifters, runners, gym-goers and other active people.
Rather than automatically recommending the same appointment frequency to everyone, I look at why you're booking, your current training, relevant movement and what you're trying to achieve.
Treatment may include sports or remedial massage techniques, deep tissue techniques, trigger point therapy, stretching and IASTM where appropriate. Relevant movement or exercise recommendations may also be provided depending on your presentation.
If you're dealing with a particular problem, you can also explore the conditions treated at My Massage Therapist.
If you're not sure whether it's the right time to book, you don't need to work out the perfect massage frequency first.
Tell me what you're training for and what's currently bothering you, and I'll assess what's relevant within my scope.
My Massage Therapist
92 Flowerdale Road, Liverpool NSW 2170
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Sports Massage Once a Month Enough?
It can be for some people, while others may book more or less often.
There's no research-backed rule saying monthly massage is the correct frequency. Your training, symptoms, goals and response to treatment are more useful considerations than simply counting weeks between appointments.
Can I Get a Sports Massage Every Week?
You can have situations where weekly appointments are appropriate, but that doesn't mean everyone who trains needs weekly sports massage.
The reason for treatment should guide the frequency.
How Often Should Runners Get a Sports Massage?
There isn't a specific massage schedule that every runner should follow.
Consider your running volume, upcoming events, muscular soreness, recurring restrictions and how you're responding to training. A marathon runner during a demanding block may have different needs from someone comfortably running a few times per week.
How Often Should Lifters Get a Sports Massage?
There isn't a required weekly or monthly frequency for lifters.
If muscular tightness, soreness or movement restriction is affecting squats, deadlifts, pressing or other training, that may give you a practical reason to book. Your treatment frequency can then change as the issue or your training changes.
Should I Get a Sports Massage Before or After Training?
It depends on what you want from the appointment and the treatment being performed.
If you're booking close to an important training session or competition, tell your therapist. Treatment intensity and technique selection may need to take your upcoming activity into account.
Do I Need to Be an Athlete to Get a Sports Massage?
No.
Sports massage can also be relevant to recreational runners, CrossFit members, lifters, gym-goers and other active people. Your treatment should be based on your individual presentation and goals rather than whether you compete professionally.
