Sports Massage for Runners: How Soft Tissue Therapy Supports Recovery, Flexibility, and Performance

Whether you’re training for your next 10K or tackling trail marathons every weekend, running is a high-impact, repetitive activity that places substantial demand on the body. While it’s brilliant for cardiovascular fitness and mental health, the continuous strain on your musculoskeletal system can also lead to issues like tightness, soreness, and even overuse injuries.

At the White House Clinic, we regularly treat runners of all abilities - from seasoned club competitors to recreational weekend joggers - and one thing many of them have in common is a belief in the power of massage. Here’s a closer look at why sports massage can be a powerful tool for both performance and recovery.

The Repetitive Nature of Running

Running involves repeated loading and unloading of the muscles, tendons, and joints. Over time, this mechanical stress can lead to:

• Muscle fatigue and tightness
• Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
• Sprains, strains and tendinopathies

This doesn’t mean running is inherently damaging - these micro-injuries are part of how the body adapts and gets stronger. But supporting that adaptation process is key, especially if you want to stay injury-free and consistent with your training. That’s where massage can come in.

• Muscle Soreness and Recovery

One of the most commonly reported benefits of massage for runners is its ability to reduce the intensity and duration of muscle soreness after long or hard runs.

This post-run soreness, or DOMS, results from microscopic tears and inflammation in the muscle fibres. Massage is believed to support recovery by:

• Increasing microcirculation to the affected muscles
• Enhancing lymphatic drainage, helping to remove waste products
• ‘Flushing’ metabolites like lactic acid out of the tissues

Switching the nervous system into a parasympathetic state - the state in which your body can repair, rest and restore

Many runners describe feeling significantly looser and more mobile the day after a massage, allowing them to walk and move more comfortably, even after a hard effort.

Flexibility and Range of Motion

When your body is pushed too hard without adequate rest, you might start to feel an overall sense of tightness - that all-too-familiar stiffness when trying to bend down after a long run.

Although running doesn’t require extreme flexibility, reduced range of motion in the hips, hamstrings or calves can:

• Impact running efficiency
• Increase the risk of injury
• Make recovery slower

Massage and manual therapy can often restore a sense of fluidity and mobility to the tissues. By releasing adhesions, relaxing the myofascial system, and encouraging muscle pliability, runners may experience:

• Greater joint range of motion
• Improved shock absorption during foot strikes
• Better distribution of forces through the kinetic chain

This is particularly beneficial for anyone increasing their training volume or returning from a period of inactivity.

Injury Prevention and Managing Niggles

Every runner knows that consistency is key - and nothing disrupts consistency like an injury.

Regular sports massage can help prevent common running-related injuries such as:

• Runner’s knee (patellofemoral pain syndrome)
• IT band syndrome
• Plantar fasciopathy
• Achilles tendinopathy

By promoting better tissue quality, breaking down adhesions, and encouraging optimal alignment of muscle fibres, massage can:

• Support tissue healing
• Restore normal biomechanics
• Help identify issues before they become injuries

This allows runners to maintain their training schedules, adapt to increased loads, and return to activity sooner after setbacks.

The Brain-Body Connection

While the physical benefits of massage are well known, its effects on the nervous system and pain processing are equally fascinating.

Research shows that touch can activate specific neural pathways linked to emotional wellbeing and pain modulation:

• “Stimulating CT fibres optimally activates a specific neural pathway which results in positive emotions.” - McGlone, Wessberg and Olausson, 2014
• “The affective response of touch is thought to facilitate endogenous opioids, oxytocin and dopaminergic pathways.” - Ellingsen et al., 2016
• “During periods of stress and pain, dopamine drives an increase in the motivation for touch to bring us comfort and safety so homeostasis can be restored.” - Massaccesi et al., 2021
• “Even the expectation of touch dampens the response to pain and stress by unlocking our own drug cabinet for the release of endogenous opioids.” - Alexander et al., 2021

In simple terms, massage doesn’t just help the muscles - it calms the brain, reduces pain perception, and supports emotional regulation during tough training blocks.

Should You Get a Massage?

If you’re a runner dealing with regular muscle tightness, soreness after training, or the early signs of injury - or if you just want to optimise your performance and recovery - sports massage could be a valuable addition to your routine.

At the White House Clinic, our therapists work with runners across Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham, Hathersage and Chesterfield. We use evidence-informed techniques to tailor every treatment to your needs - whether that’s post-race recovery, a regular maintenance session, or injury support.

Book Now

Looking to book your next sports massage? Use our online booking system to secure your session at a time and location that works for you.

References

• McGlone F, Wessberg J, Olausson H. (2014). Discriminative and affective touch: sensing and feeling. Neuron.
• Ellingsen DM, Leknes S, Løseth G, et al. (2016). The neurobiology shaping affective touch: expectation, motivation, and meaning in the multisensory context. Frontiers in Psychology.
• Massaccesi C, de Bartolo D, Finzi D, et al. (2021). Social touch as a resource to support stress regulation and social bonding in times of physical distancing. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
• Alexander L, Lombardo G, et al. (2021). The role of anticipatory processes in modulating pain: The influence of expectations. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.mama