Library / In-Season Recovery for the Athlete
In-season recovery, scheduled like training.
In season, recovery stops being a luxury and starts being logistics. The question isn't whether bodywork helps; it's where it fits in a week that already contains games, practices, travel, and a life.
Timing. The soreness research gives a useful anchor: massage's measured effects on post-exercise soreness are strongest 48 to 72 hours after hard efforts. That makes the day or two after your heaviest sessions a sensible default slot, when the body is doing its loudest complaining. Research suggests sessions there may help you feel recovered sooner and move more freely into the next block of work.
What not to expect. The same reviews that confirm recovery benefits find no performance effect. A massage the night before a race will not make you faster, and Kinetic won't sell it to you on those terms. Book for comfort, mobility, and consistency, not for a podium.
Frequency. The trial evidence favors consistency: results scaled with visits per week, benefits build across a course of care, and they fade when care stops. For most in-season athletes that argues for a standing slot, weekly or biweekly, protected the way a practice is protected. The in-home model exists precisely so that slot survives the season's chaos: the table comes to you, scheduled around training, school runs, and travel.
The honest summary: treat bodywork like part of the program. Consistent, thorough, and timed to the work, it earns its place in a competitive calendar. A standing slot starts with one request.
Sources: full citations with DOIs live in the references library.