The Benefits Of Cupping Therapy For Athletes

You may have noticed at some point that athletes have been spotted with big red spots on the bodies. Take Michael Phelps, for example, at the summer Olympics in 2016. People were very curious about these strange spots on his body. This is due to cupping therapy, which has grown in popularity these last couple of decades. Cupping is a safe form of alternative medicine which involves placing a cup on the skin and pumping out the air for local suction to promote healing. This may sound strange, but there are known benefits to this ancient form of therapy, and here are just some of them:

1. Promotes relaxation

Lying completely still with your eyes closed in a cupping therapists clinic is enough the make anybody feel relaxed. Cupping promotes blood flow, completely relaxes your muscles once the blood reaches them. The tension you may be feeling in your body is then released which de-stresses you physically and mentally.

2. Relieves pain & helps with recovery

Cupping draws blood to the area of attention which reduces pain and speeds up the natural healing process of the body. Cupping therapy can be for everyone, but athletes use this form of physical therapy because they feel it helps them recover faster from the physically demanding training they endure on a daily basis.

3. Detoxification

Athletes train hard and play hard, but this results in putting their bodies under a lot of stress. When they train strenuously, they develop little tears in their muscle tissues which leaves them susceptible to toxin buildups. The use of cupping can break up these toxins, which can then lead them to easily escape from the body.

4. Reduces inflammation

Other things athletes have to deal with are stiff muscles and inflammation. By way of cupping therapy, it allows the muscles to lift from the bone and draw fresh blood in the affected area. This promotes healing and eliminates the causes of inflammation.

Hopefully, we’ve provided some insights on those red spots you’ve been seeing on athletes every now and then. Not to worry, it’s just from cupping therapy! If you’d like to know more about this alternative form of therapy, try reading Traditional Chinese Medicine Cupping Therapy, by Ilkay Z. Chirali. In this book, different techniques and guidelines are discussed to further understand cupping therapy. Feel free to browse through our online library www.fitrena.com for more great sporting and physical therapy content!