How did sports massage begin?

Welcome to the first instalment of the Injury Ninja blog - I will be aiming to post weekly content covering a wide range of interesting and informative topics within the umbrella of sports massage and injury prevention.

This first post is a little different and designed to give you an introduction to the origins and development of sports massage therapy.

Sports massage originated in Greece and Rome and has a history of thousands of years. Galen (AD 30-200), a renowned Roman physician, described it as 'prescribed massage for gladiators both before and after exercising'.

The modern history of Sports Massage can be dated back to the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Paavo Nurmi from Finland won five gold medals in the Olympic running competition. He gave most of the credit for his win to the massage that he received from his personal massage therapist on a regular basis.

Massage was widely performed by trainers at colleges and amateur athletic events in the early 20th century. American athletes began to employ massage to improve their performance, having been influenced by the successful use of it by European athletes.

In 1986, the American Massage Therapy Association launched a National Sports Massage Team to promote massage for athletes. In 1996, the position of sports massage therapist was included as part of the official medical team at the Atlanta Olympics. Sports massage has now become an integral part of the Olympics as well as gaining popularity among both amateur and professional athletes.