Running asks a lot from the body.
Whether you’re building towards your first 10km, training for a marathon or simply enjoy getting out for a regular run, the repeated load through your feet, calves, knees, hips and lower back adds up over time.
For many runners, a little muscular soreness or fatigue is simply part of training. But recurring tightness, restricted movement or discomfort that keeps returning can make running less enjoyable and may start affecting how you move both during training and throughout the rest of your day.
This is where remedial massage can form part of a broader approach to recovery, movement and ongoing body maintenance.
At Movement Matters Remedial Massage in Lathlain, we work with runners at different levels and stages of training. Rather than applying the same treatment to everyone, we look at what your body is doing, what has changed in your training and how you’re responding before deciding what treatment may be useful.
What Endurance Running Asks of Your Body
Endurance running involves thousands of repeated movement cycles.
As training volume or distance increases, muscles and other tissues are repeatedly asked to absorb and produce force. Areas such as the calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes and hip muscles may feel tired or tight after harder sessions, particularly when training load has recently changed.
Runners may also notice stiffness through the ankles, hips or lower back, tenderness after longer efforts, or delayed onset muscle soreness — commonly known as DOMS — during the day or two following unfamiliar or particularly demanding exercise.
None of these automatically means that something is wrong.
Training itself is how the body adapts and becomes capable of handling more. The important part is paying attention to what settles normally and what keeps returning, changes your movement or begins interfering with training and everyday activity.
What Does the Research Say About Remedial and Sports Massage?
Massage is widely used by recreational and competitive athletes, but it’s important to be realistic about what research actually shows.
Current evidence doesn’t suggest that massage directly makes someone run faster, stronger or longer simply because they’ve had a treatment.
What research does suggest is that massage may provide modest improvements in flexibility and help reduce delayed onset muscle soreness following exercise. Other research has also reported improvements in perceived recovery, relaxation and some measures of pain and fatigue.
That distinction matters.
We don’t see remedial massage as a shortcut to better performance. Training, appropriate load, sleep, nutrition, recovery and consistency still do the heavy lifting.
Massage may instead be one useful part of that bigger picture — helping some runners feel more comfortable, manage muscular tension and maintain movement while they continue doing the training that actually creates endurance.
Common Areas Runners Ask Us About
Every runner is different, but there are a few areas we regularly assess when someone comes in with running-related tightness or discomfort.
These may include:
calves and lower legs
hamstrings
quadriceps
glutes
hip flexors and surrounding hip muscles
feet and plantar fascia
lower back
Importantly, where you feel discomfort isn’t always the only area worth looking at.
A tight calf, for example, exists within a much larger movement chain involving the foot, ankle, knee and hip. Likewise, discomfort around the knee doesn’t automatically mean the knee itself is the whole story.
That’s why we prefer to look at how things are moving rather than simply working hard on whichever spot happens to feel sore.
How We Approach Remedial Massage for Runners
At Movement Matters, treatment starts with understanding what’s happening for you.
Has your weekly distance increased recently?
Have you added hills, speed work or longer sessions?
Did the discomfort begin suddenly, or has it gradually become more noticeable?
Does it affect running only, or are you also noticing it while walking, sitting, working or sleeping?
From there, we assess movement and the areas that may be contributing to what you’re experiencing.
Treatment may involve remedial massage, myofascial techniques, trigger point work, functional cupping, joint mobilisation or dry needling where appropriate. The exact combination depends on the person in front of us rather than a standard “runner’s massage” routine.
Most importantly, we continue paying attention to how your body responds.
If something isn’t producing meaningful change, we reassess it. We may adjust the treatment, look at another contributing area or change our working hypothesis altogether.
That process — Listen, Assess, Treat, Observe and Adapt — is central to how we work with runners and every other client who comes through the clinic.
Remedial Massage During a Training Block
There’s no single perfect time for every runner to book remedial massage.
Some people choose treatment when muscular tension begins limiting comfortable movement. Others include massage periodically through a longer training block because they find it useful for managing soreness and keeping an eye on areas that regularly become tight.
The timing and style of treatment should take your training into account.
A runner preparing for a hard session or race may have very different needs from someone recovering from a demanding event or working through an ongoing movement restriction.
That’s another reason we don’t believe in applying one standard treatment every time.
Your training changes. Your body changes. Treatment should be able to change with it.
What About After a Long Run or Race?
It’s normal to feel tired after asking your body to do something difficult.
Following a longer or harder run, simple recovery basics still matter: appropriate rest, hydration, nutrition, sleep and gentle movement all play a role.
Some runners also choose remedial massage as part of their recovery routine, particularly when muscular soreness or tightness is making normal movement uncomfortable.
Research suggests massage may help reduce DOMS and can provide small improvements in flexibility, but it shouldn’t be presented as a magic switch that removes the need for recovery.
Sometimes the best thing your body needs is simply time.
Our job is to assess what you’re experiencing and decide whether treatment is appropriate, rather than assuming every sore runner needs the same intervention.
When a Niggle Deserves More Attention
Runners become very good at accepting a certain amount of discomfort.
Sometimes that’s completely reasonable. Other times a niggle keeps coming back, becomes progressively worse or starts changing the way you run.
If pain is persistent, significant, associated with swelling, weakness or a sudden injury, or you’re unsure whether massage is appropriate, it’s worth seeking advice from an appropriate healthcare professional.
Remedial massage has a useful role, but it isn’t the answer to everything.
Part of good treatment is also recognising when something needs a different kind of assessment.
Supporting the Runner, Not Just the Sore Spot
Endurance running is built on consistency.
For most runners, the goal isn’t simply to feel good for one afternoon after a massage. It’s to keep doing the thing they enjoy — whether that means running around the river before work, completing a local 10km, building towards a marathon or simply staying active.
That’s why our focus is broader than chasing individual tight spots.
We want to understand how you’re moving, what your training is asking from your body and what may be contributing when something doesn’t feel right.
Remedial massage can be one part of supporting that process.
And because no two runners respond in exactly the same way, we’ll keep assessing and adapting rather than assuming the same treatment will suit everyone.
Remedial Massage for Runners in Perth
Movement Matters Remedial Massage is based in Lathlain, close to Victoria Park, Burswood and some of Perth’s most popular running routes.
We work with recreational runners, active adults and athletes looking for individualised remedial massage, movement assessment and support through training and recovery.
If tightness, soreness or restricted movement is starting to interfere with your running, we can take a closer look at what’s happening and discuss whether remedial massage may be appropriate for you.
Book your appointment online and find a time that suits you.
Move Better. Feel Better. Live Better.
Research referenced
Davis HL, Alabed S, Chico TJA. Effect of sports massage on performance and recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2020.
Konrad A et al. / review authors. The Effects of Massage Therapy on Sport and Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports, 2023.
American Massage Therapy Association. Updates in Research: Massage + Sports.
