The business I visit is very proactive in offering their staff the facilities and the opportunity to exercise during working hours to boost health and encourage a more positive work/life balance. Massage fits with this ethic. For those employees who prefer not to exercise during working hours, the availability of a massage treatment at their place of work encourages them to get away from their workload and allows them time to relax, so they return to their desk feeling revitalised and much more aware of their posture. If you think your business may be interested in bringing massage on-site then please contact me.

A good warm-up improves your performance and reduces the risk of injury. When preparing for exercise, the aim is to elevate your body temperature, increase your heart rate and improve the blood flow to the muscles. The most efficient way to do this is with 5-10mins of gentle jogging followed by gentle stretching of your body’s major muscles, prior to your run.

Make sure you are training in the right kind of shoes for your running style. Visit a specialised running shop to get your running technique analysed. Your biomechanical running style will dictate the amount of support and cushioning that you need in a running shoe and running in the right shoe with the correct support should prevent injury.

Try and run on different surfaces to experience a mixture of soft and hard grounds. By running both off and on road your muscles get a chance to adapt to various terrains, making them more resilient.

Get enough rest from training because without it, your body can’t adapt to the training loads you place upon it. Increase your mileage gradually to avoid overloading your muscles and to prevent injury.

Make sure you stretch again after your run. Stretch slowly and gently to the point of tension and hold each stretch for at least 30secs.

Get regular massage. Prevention is better than cure so get the muscles loosened off with a deep tissue massage every 4-6 weeks and take the heaviness and tiredness out of your legs.

Drink enough fluid before, during and after your workout to ensure that you are fully hydrated. Dehydration will affect the electrolyte balance in your muscles and can cause cramp. Stretch the cramped muscle gently until you can feel the spasm subsiding. Massage the cramped muscle using a compression technique. Do this intermittently with the stretching and this will help relieve the tension.

As the muscles get tight, the blood flow to the muscles becomes slightly restricted and there is less oxygen and nutrients getting to the muscles to keep them healthy. A lack of energy and nutrients to a tight muscle weakens that muscle and the muscle tightens up further. With tight muscles, you will be more prone to injury during daily routines and sporting activities.

Over-training can cause tight muscles. Too much training can cause muscles to strain and often results in small micro tears to the muscle fibres. Strained muscles will tighten to protect themselves from injury thereby reducing the blood supply to that muscle. This therefore restricts the amount of oxygen and nutrients getting into the muscles causing the muscles to work less efficiently.

Poor and/or static posture can also lead to tight muscles. If you have poor posture and muscles are held in a static position for long periods of time then this puts considerable pressure on the surrounding muscles, increasing the work that they have to do to overcompensate for the poor posture. These muscles are working twice as hard and almost become over-trained. Static posture throughout the day followed by post-work exercise means that the tight muscles are more prone to injury.