LM Sports Massage

LM Sports Massage Whether you're a top athlete, a weekend warrior, or suffering from the stresses and strains of everyday life, form and function is key.

Sport and remedial massage is an appropriate treatment for anyone looking to improve their posture and movement.

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue TherapyMost people never connect their restricted breath to their "tight" neck, their...
08/06/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

Most people never connect their restricted breath to their "tight" neck, their jaw tension or their lower back pain or movement pattern.

If you think about things this way, every single muscle that connects to your rib cage (thorax), is in someway or another involved or affected by how you breathe, it's biomechanics. Therefore if you brace and elevate your shoulders as part of your posture pattern, your breath will be shallow. Consequently some muscles will start to work harder than they are designed to for a prolonged period of time, while others become more inactive and sluggish.

If this pattern becomes your norm over weeks, months or even years, your body is being forced to make changes to accommodate you. Sooner or later the strain of this starts to manifest as aches, pains and persistent discomfort. Your compensation pattern has reached it's limits.

We can help you to start to understand any muscular imbalances and how you can start to address these with exercises, massage and soft tissue therapy.

Get booked in but in the meantime, breathe out, move your head, neck and shoulders.

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue TherapyYour neck is the only place in your body where your nervous system, vascular ...
03/06/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

Your neck is the only place in your body where your nervous system, vascular supply, lymphatic drainage and airway all share the same passage.

Allowing your head to jut forwards, your shoulders to brace and elevate and your back to round/abdominals to collapse will all contribute towards this.

If you spend long hours working at a desk or in just one position, grab the moments where you can to breathe out, drop your shoulders and turn your head from side to side, then restart your activity with your shoulders, neck and jaw relaxed and your ribcage (thoracic) area engaged and elevated.

Move little and often and breathe out consciously whenever you can. You will feel less fatigued and more alert.



head forward posture, posture advice, more energy, breathe out more, move more

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy“Tight” Muscles? What do you mean?A tight muscle - is a phrase that has become...
27/05/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

“Tight” Muscles? What do you mean?

A tight muscle - is a phrase that has become universally acceptable to use, but what does it mean?

Probably one of the these things:

A very strong muscle that is infrequently stretched or lengthened becomes shortened, so on stretch feels “tight” e.g. your hip flexors, iliopsoas, you sit a lot, so they stay short for many hours of the day, you then stand up and the front of your hips feel “tight”.

A muscle that is over recruited to do more work than it should and is constantly working e.g. the neck muscles of rotation. They frequently don’t do this job if you are a shallow breather, and help with the act of respiration. That’s why when you sign and breathe out, you suddenly notice how much your neck aches. They are finally getting a break!

Sometimes a tight muscle, is actually protecting an area of injury or weakness. This is your nervous system kicking in to prevent further damage, frequently felt in the lower back. This is known as guarding.

This can then lead to a compensation pattern, if one muscle is weaker, either through injury or weakness, another muscle will pick up the slack, thus generating tension with time. Most of us who spend a lot of time sat hunched over a computer have weaker muscles between our shoulder blades (mid traps and rhomboids) the upper traps become over active to take up the slack.

So what does “tight” mean to you?

Remember that sometimes this is nothing to do with flexibility - if stretching doesn’t solve it, perhaps you have to strengthen it.
More than this, ask yourself “WHY” is it feeling “tight”?
Is it that muscle or is it a muscle somewhere else that is causing the problem?
Not sure, come along and see us and we will help you get to the bottom of your “tight” feeling muscle, be it hypertonic or hypotonic, a compensation or a guarding.

lmsportsmassageuk tightmuscles

tight muscles hypertonic hypotonic compensation patterns muscle guarding

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy"Tight" Muscles? What do you mean?A tight muscle - is a phrase that has become...
27/05/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

"Tight" Muscles? What do you mean?

A tight muscle - is a phrase that has become universally acceptable to use, but what does it mean?

Probably one of the these things:

A very strong muscle that is infrequently stretched or lengthened becomes shortened, so on stretch feels "tight" e.g. your hip flexors, iliopsoas, you sit a lot, so they stay short for many hours of the day, you then stand up and the front of your hips feel "tight".

A muscle that is over recruited to do more work than it should and is constantly working e.g. the neck muscles of rotation. They frequently don't do this job if you are a shallow breather, and help with the act of respiration. That's why when you sign and breathe out, you suddenly notice how much your neck aches. They are finally getting a break!

Sometimes a tight muscle, is actually protecting an area of injury or weakness. This is your nervous system kicking in to prevent further damage, frequently felt in the lower back. This is known as guarding.

This can then lead to a compensation pattern, if one muscle is weaker, either through injury or weakness, another muscle will pick up the slack, thus generating tension with time. Most of us who spend a lot of time sat hunched over a computer have weaker muscles between our shoulder blades (mid traps and rhomboids) the upper traps become over active to take up the slack.

So what does "tight" mean to you?

Remember that sometimes this is nothing to do with flexibility - if stretching doesn't solve it, perhaps you have to strengthen it.
More than this, ask yourself "WHY" is it feeling "tight"?
Is it that muscle or is it a muscle somewhere else that is causing the problem?
Not sure, come along and see us and we will help you get to the bottom of your "tight" feeling muscle, be it hypertonic or hypotonic, a compensation or a guarding.



tight muscles hypertonic hypotonic compensation patterns muscle guarding

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue TherapyWhat's cramp & what's a spasm?Cramp - Sudden painful and involuntary contracti...
19/05/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

What's cramp & what's a spasm?

Cramp -
Sudden painful and involuntary contraction
It can last seconds or minutes usually in the lower leg, feet, toes or hands
Often caused by dehydration, fatigue or an electrolyte imbalance
Hydrate, and gently mobilize and then stretch

Spasm -
Mild to intense pain from an involuntary muscular contraction which can last for some days
Usually in the back, neck or shoulders
Often stress, injury and/or posture related
Get heat to the area as soon as you can, engage in gentle movements and try to go through a full range of movement

Massage and soft tissue therapy are highly effective at helping with the after effects of these two events, but prevention is always better than cure, so as we start to go into the summer months, ensure that you hydrate regularly, even when you think you don't need to, move as much as you can, even if just a little bit.



cramp, spasm, causes of cramp, causes of spasm, what is cramp, what is a spasm, how to deal with cramp, how to deal with a spasm, massage and cramp, massage and a spasm, benefits of massage

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy"Dedicated to restoring strength, movement and confidence, as well as helping ...
12/05/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

"Dedicated to restoring strength, movement and confidence, as well as helping you understand how your body works."

We offer sane, practical advice and personalised treatments with remedial exercises and follow up care, to help you help yourself and get the most out of life.



help you to help yourself, personalised treatment, restoring strength, restoring movement, restoring confidence, understand how your body works

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue TherapyWhen you clench your jaw, you are reducing your oxygen intake by up to 30%. Th...
27/04/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

When you clench your jaw, you are reducing your oxygen intake by up to 30%. That is 30% less oxygen to your muscles and body. So you are potentially operating at (output and recovery) only two thirds* (*give or take) capacity!

Why? - Your diaphragm cannot fully expand.

Clenched jaw = shallow breathing = weak core = pelvic floor compensates by over working, resulting in lower back tension and a lack of fluid movement, creating stiffness, tension and ultimately pain and discomfort as well as a loss of balance.

When you relax your jaw and neck, allowing for natural relaxed movement, your diaphragm engages more effectively, your pelvis stabilizes, your spine decompresses and your Vagus nerve signals to your brain that all is well with the world and anxiety levels drop, reducing cortisol production.

So remember, relaxing your jaw is not just about saving your teeth, it will save your whole body and nervous system, making you a more energized version of yourself.

If you are struggling with jaw tension and TMJ issues, get booked in and let us help you with our dedicated TMJ full body approach treatment.



vagus nerve, jaw tension, diaphragm activation, simple posture fix,

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue TherapyMost people take breathing for granted, but diaphragmatic breathing, rather th...
22/04/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

Most people take breathing for granted, but diaphragmatic breathing, rather than shallow chest breathing, expands the lungs fully, improves posture and resets your nervous system. Remember that the diaphragm is a muscle, it needs exercise and training too.

This in turn will activate the Vagus Nerve causing a switch in your nervous system from flight or flight to recovery mode - this is the simplest and most effective benefit for mental and physical health. It's all in the breath - the most natural of all actions.

Daily deep breathing will improve oxygen to the muscles and soft tissues, and improve circulation as well as improving stiffness, better focus and tension release.

The Vagus Nerve is your body's internal system, advising your brain that all is well and that stress and tension held in the body can be relaxed.

Frequently during massage, you may well notice that your tummy starts to rumble, "borborygmi" a cause of great embarrassment to many, but in fact this is a really good sign, as it indicates that your body is in a relaxed state and responding well to the massage - a happy Vagus Nerve, a happy parasympathetic nervous system, a happy brain, a happy body.

It only really gets embarrassing when your massage therapist's tummy joins in the conversation as well!



vagus nerve, parasympathetic system activation, borborygmi, tummy rumbles, massage for relaxation, stress release, diaphragmatic breathing

16/04/2026

A few days off, having a walk in Portugal along the Fisherman’s Trail. Just doing the middle section. What a great way to unwind, stunning scenery along the coast, an abundance of fauna and delightful locals who are excited for you being able to enjoy their country. Not a difficult hike but certainly a beautiful one. Back at work next week! Photo 2 is the trail setter, my view of the last 3 days. 🤣

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue TherapyMassage Activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System:The autonomic nervous sys...
15/04/2026

L M Sports Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy

Massage Activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System:

The autonomic nervous system is comprised of two branches – the sympathetic nervous system controls the “fight or flight” response, while the parasympathetic nervous system controls “rest and digest.”

Massage has been shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, signalling the body to move into a state of relaxation and increased digestive activity.

This explains why massage is so relaxing and people often feel sleepy after a massage – it’s shifting the body into parasympathetic mode.

Feel like you are stuck in a stress pattern and can't breakout? Then get booked in, give yourself a break.



massageandthenervoussystem

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