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As the world’s elite athletes gear up for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the intensity of their training regimens is at an all-time high.

The demands on their bodies are immense, with rigorous schedules pushing their muscles and nervous systems to their limits.

To meet these challenges, athletes have turned to advanced tissue work techniques, a staple in the realm of high-performance sports for decades. These methods enhance physiological recovery and play a crucial role in optimizing the nervous system, ensuring athletes perform at their peak.


The Training Demands on Olympic Athletes’ Tissues and Nervous Systems

Training for the Olympics is a grueling process involving intense physical exertion, repeated high-impact movements, and maximum muscle contractions.

This relentless training creates micro-tears in muscle fibers, leads to the accumulation of metabolic waste, and induces significant stress on the nervous system.

The nervous system is particularly taxed, as it is responsible for coordinating complex movements, managing pain responses, and maintaining muscle tone and tension.

All of these stresses, however, are stimuli for adaptation. It’s during recovery and regeneration that these athletes improve. This is why world-class athletes emphasize recovery so much.

Ken Vick, the High Performance Director for Velocity Sports Performance, has worked with Olympic athletes, teams, and entire Olympic Committees in five summer Games. He explains, “Many of the benefits from performance-enhancing drugs help you recover faster. If you recover faster, you can train harder and more often. My interest in recovery began because I knew my athletes were competing clean against others using PEDs. We had to do a better job of recovery.”


The Role of Tissue Work in Preparation

Coach Ken Vick with Olympian Maddie Godby preparing for Tokyo Olympics
Coach Ken Vick says tissue work is a “non-negotiable”. Here he is working with 2020 Tokyo Olympian Maddie Godby of the USA.

One of the tools Vick has always recommended is tissue work. “You can’t out-recover bad training, a lack of sleep, or poor nutrition,” he says.

“But once those are in place, professional tissue work is the most impactful thing an athlete can add to their process.”

Vick emphasizes the significant impact of tissue work, recounting how an experienced international track & field coach once told him, “Tissue work gives an 8 to 10% boost in the amount of training an athlete could tolerate. It’s a non-negotiable.”

Paris Olympic athletes want that physical and mental edge and are employing various tissue work techniques.

Here are some common ones you might see if you got a look behind the scenes:

Myofascial Release

Myofascial release is a manual therapy technique focusing on relieving tension and tightness in the myofascial tissues, which are the membranes that wrap, connect, and support muscles.

During a session, the therapist applies deep, sustained pressure to the muscles, fascia and connective tissues to release restrictions and improve movement.

Athletes can expect a feeling of deep pressure and stretching, often targeting tight or painful areas. Its not a comfortable process at times, but also shouldn’t be incredibly painful.

Benefits:

Vive founder Cindy Vick using myofascial release on Tokyo Gold Medalist and Paris 2024 Olympian Kelsey Mitchell of Canada.

“You can’t out-recover bad training, a lack of sleep, or poor nutrition, but once those are in place, professional tissue work is the most impactful thing an athlete can add to their process.” – Ken Vick, Vive Human Performance Director

Pin and Stretch (Active Release)

Pin & Stretch, also known as active release, is designed to prevent adhesions between fascial layers and stimulate the nervous system to allow muscle fibers to relax. It is particularly effective in treating muscle tightness, improving flexibility, and relieving pain from repetitive stress and overuse injuries.

Benefits :

Myofascial Decompression Cupping

Myofascial Decompression (MFD) Cupping utilizes suction to create a negative pressure environment over the skin and underlying fascia. This technique aims to alleviate pain, improve mobility, and promote tissue healing by manipulating the fascia.

Benefits of Myofascial Decompression Cupping:

Vive Tissue Specialist performs Dynamic MFD cupping on a US National Team athlete.

Assisted PNF and Fascial Stretching

PNF assisted stretching
Assisted PNF and Fascial Stretching are integrated with tissue work in Vive Tune-Up sessions.

PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) Stretching and Fascial Stretching are advanced techniques used to enhance flexibility, improve range of motion, and optimize athletic performance.

These methods involve both active and passive elements, often with the assistance of a therapist or partner.

Benefits:

Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM)

IASTM utilizes specialized tools to apply controlled stimulus or force to affected areas. The therapist uses instruments to scrape and massage the skin, targeting areas with scar tissue, adhesions, or muscle tightness.

Contrary to some beliefs, this technique dosent have to be aggressive or damage the tissue to work.

In fact, modern approaches focus on how the nervous system is affected more than inducing damage for remodelling.

Benefits:

Vive Tissue Specialist Alli MacKenzie use a “tool” to perform Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) for muscle recovery.

During the Paris Olympics

Its not only in the lead up to the Games that olympic athletes are using tissue work. During Paris 2024, athletes will continue to rely on these techniques to stay in peak condition.

Between events, quick, targeted massages can help reduce muscle tension and soreness, ensuring athletes are ready for their next performance. Cupping and myofascial release will be used to maintain tissue pliability and prevent injuries.

Often, the calming effects on the nervous system can be crucial in helping athletes manage the immense pressure and stress of Olympic competition.

Real Athletes, Real Results

Sydney McLaughlin, the accomplished track and field athlete, has spoken about the importance of recovery practices. This includes massage, to maintain her high-performance levels.

She emphasizes the role of massage and other recovery techniques in her routine, highlighting their impact on her ability to train at a high level consistently.

In an interview, McLaughlin stated, “I know that if I get a massage and spend 10 minutes waist-deep in an ice bath just flushing everything out, I’m not going to feel as sore the next day and I can train at the highest level” (Tonal).

During the 2016 Rio Olympics, Michael Phelps‘ visible cupping marks sparked widespread interest in the technique.

He explained that cupping helps improve blood flow, reduce swelling, and alleviate muscle soreness. That allows him to maintain a rigorous training schedule. Phelps described the therapy as “painful but very effective” and credited it with significantly enhancing his recovery process, enabling him to train at an elite level consistently​ (Medical Daily).

Another swimmer, seven-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky, has discussed the importance of recovery practices, including massage therapy, in maintaining her elite performance levels. She incorporates various recovery techniques into her routine to ensure she can train and compete at the highest level.

Ledecky emphasizes the significance of massage therapy and other recovery methods like using massage guns and Normatec compression equipment, explaining that these treatments help increase circulation and minimize muscle fatigue​ (Paris 2024 Olympics).

That’s Why Olympic Athletes Are Using Tissue Work

As the countdown to Paris 2024 continues, the use of tissue work among Olympic athletes is set to play a pivotal role in their preparation and performance.

By addressing both the physiological demands on their bodies and the crucial role of the nervous system, these techniques ensure athletes can compete at their very best.

The integration of advanced tissue work in their recovery protocols represents a sophisticated approach to sports recovery, blending manual therapy with a nervous system view to achieve peak athletic performance.

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