How often to get a sports massage depends on what you're doing, not on a rule. If you're training for something, every one to two weeks through the hard part of the block works for most people. If it's a desk that builds up in your neck and shoulders, every three to four weeks is usually enough to stop it building back. The point is to come before it gets bad, not after.
I see a professional footballer every week, sometimes twice. I see a golfer who’s working towards turning pro twice a week, for 90 minutes each time. Most people need nothing like that. But the reason they come so often is the same reason you might come once a month.
The short answer
It depends on what you’re doing, not on a rule. If you’re training for something, every one to two weeks through the hard part of the block works for most people. If it’s a desk that builds up in your neck and shoulders, every three to four weeks is usually enough to stop it building back.
The point is to come before it gets bad, not after.
Why do some people come every week?
Because their body is under load every week.
The footballer trains and plays all week. With him I work the whole body, but I always come back to the glutes, hamstrings, calves and quads, because that’s where football puts the strain.
The golfer is always tight in his lower back. I work the muscles either side of the lower spine, the glutes and the hamstrings, because a golf swing needs whip and rotation, and that’s where it comes from.
Training adds load week after week. That’s how training works. The tightness that ends a block is usually one that was fine until the week it wasn’t.
And why do others only need once a month?
A desk is different. It isn’t effort that causes it, it’s holding one position for hours. That builds slowly, slowly enough to ignore, which is why it keeps coming back.
So the runner needs me more often for a few months, then stops when the race does. The person at a desk needs me less often, but all year.
What if something has flared up?
Then a few sessions closer together, and once it’s settled, spread them out.
Most people only book when something’s already gone. That’s fine for a first visit. But if the same thing keeps flaring up, that’s the sign to stop waiting for it.
What should I do between sessions?
On the day, drink plenty of water. You might be sore for about 24 hours, which is normal, and you’ll feel the work properly at around 48 hours.
Then keep moving. Even if you’re sore, don’t sit down and let it stiffen up. Nothing hard: a 30-minute walk will do you the world of good.
After that, what I tell you depends on you: your sport, your work, the way you live. That’s part of every session.
When is it not a massage problem?
If you’ve had a fall or a knock and it’s swollen or you can’t put weight on it, see a GP or A&E first. Same if the pain wakes you at night, if you’ve got pins and needles or numbness down an arm or a leg, or if you just feel unwell with it. Those need a diagnosis, and I don’t diagnose.
If I start working and it isn’t behaving like a muscle problem, I’ll stop and tell you.
Two of my regulars come every week because their sport asks it of them. For most people, the right rhythm is the one that stops the same thing coming back.
Sessions are 30, 60 or 90 minutes (£65, £125 or £180), in Kingston upon Thames, and on Mondays and Fridays in Esher.
If this is your situation, the page that goes into it properly:
Performance & maintenance