There is no "best" time to have a sports massage, everyone differs in their needs and responds differently to treatment. As a sports person my general rule of thumb is this: if you have an injury which needs treating, it is best to leave it a few days after your heavy sessions so we can drop into the tissue without you leaving the couch. Muscles are very lively after interval sessions or heavy training loads, because the tissue is over-sensitive at this point we can't sink into the muscles to relieve the injured tissue. If you are not injured and your muscles are sore post a hard session, then this isa good time to have a recovery treatment to keep you on track with your training plan. If you are treating yourself to a massage for the first time before an event, give yourself a few days for your muscles to settle after the treatment. Regular massage goers know how their bodies respond to a treatment, some bounce off the couch ready for the 100m, others take a few days to bounce back. Err on the side of caution and give yourself a few days to recover, it would be a shame to ruin all that good training.

If time and budget were not an issue, every week. But the reality is they are. So if you are on a budget and treating yourself to a massage, then (as a sports person) I would suggest having the treament prior to your event so you are ready to compete. If you receive regular massage, then keep your goals in mind, if you are unsure, read the answer above, if that doesn't help we can always tap into our experience as therapists and extreme sports nuts to offer some advice.

Overuse injuries can occur in everyday life and are generally brought on by the things we do repetitively everyday. We will use remedial massage to treat you and look at what day to day activities could be the cause and will give you simple solutions to help with this. Generally making a few small changes can have a big effect.

 A brief history is taken prior to the massage including your sports goals or event deadlines. We may do some standing tests and no doubt will review your posture (this we do with your clothes on). The majority of our treatment is hands-on work, however we want to fix you, so may glean as much information from you so we can work out what's going on.

We use towels during the treatment and would require that you keep your underwear on, however if you feel more comfortable, you can bring a pair of shorts. Stretchy underwear is best, especially if we are treating legs.

Yes and no. If you are crawling off the couch trying to get out from under the therapists elbows, then NO it should not feel like that. When too much pressure is applied and causes undue pain, your natural response is to tense up, this means the therapist is now treating your voluntary muscle tension and not the problem area. Exit stage left and find someone who will care for your muscles as much as you do. So when should it hurt? Pain is a personal emotion, everyone tolerates pain differently, a therapist should be sensitive to this and regulate their techniques to get the tissue to respond to the treatment. In some instances to get that tissue to respond it may be a little sensitive but it should not be unbearable. However never feel wrong to shout if you are struggling to unclench your teeth - you know your pain tolerance better than we do and we are always happy to ease up a little.