Engaging in exercise and following a healthy diet is the tried and proven way to lose weight but anyone who has tried losing weight knows that sticking to such a plan is not easy.
Massage can help you lose weight by promoting your physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing and making it easier to stick to your weight loss diet and exercise program.
Here is how incorporating massage therapy into your fitness plan can help you achieve your desired weight:
1. Reducing Muscle Soreness and Preventing Injury
Having and sticking to a good workout plan is key to losing weight but the sore muscles and injuries that follow intense physical activity can make it hard to stick to a workout plan.
A good post-event massage session after a workout will help release tension and clear build-up of lactic acid in the muscles, alleviate aches and pains, shorten recovery plan and make it easier to exercise again the following day.
Regular massage sessions also make your body more flexible and improve your range of motion enabling you to perform a wide range of fitness activities without experiencing injuries.
2. Reducing Stress
Stress is a major contributing factor to gaining weight and a hindrance to losing it. It fosters comfort eating and kills the motivation to exercise. When you’re stressed, your digestion and metabolism also suffer.
Studies have shown that massage is effective at relieving stress and anxiety and improving psychological health. When you feel good about yourself, it is easy to break any emotional eating habit and enjoy exercising. Massage also promotes the release of feel-good hormones and endorphins that helps with motivation to exercise.
A good massage can help you lose weight by melting away the stress and boosting your digestion and metabolism so your body burns calories much more effectively.
3. Promoting Circulation
Massage improves circulation of blood and this increases the amount of oxygen and nutrients your tissues and muscles receive and also ensures that waste products and broken down fat deposits are eliminated more effectively.
Lymphatic drainage massage helps the body get rid of toxins and excess fluid and also promotes healing of injuries.
4. Improving Muscle and Skin Tone
Losing weight comes with an undesirable consequence: loose skin. Incorporating massage therapy into your weight loss plan is a great way to improve muscle tone, maintain the skin’s elasticity and firmness, and restore a fit body shape more effectively.
Vigorous massage applied to the abdomen, hips, and thighs can lead to a reduction in hip, thigh, and abdominal circumference. Massage can also improve your posture and make you appear leaner.
Overview
The manipulation of tissues and muscles during massage will not only help improve your body shape and size, but it will also make it much easier to exercise and stick to a healthy diet and thus help you achieve your weight loss goals. Whether you’re going to the gym, running, engaging in team sports, martial sports, or Zumba, the relaxing and self-affirming benefits of massage can help you lose weight by making you more determined and focused to lose weight.
Since massage feels good, it adds an element of self-love and care into a weight loss plan and can make the process of losing weight more positive and enjoyable. Reward yourself with a massage every time you stick to your exercise and diet plan and set yourself up for weight loss success!
More Resources:
Effect of Combined Manual Acupuncture and Massage on Body Weight
Get in touch with Higher Living Bodywork at (929) 500-2041 for a consultation on the best type of massage for your needs! I am a licensed massage therapist and can offer my therapeutic services at the comfort of your home or in our studio space in Williamsburg Brooklyn!