Posted on June 26th, 2025

If you run in Havering, you have it good. Harrow Lodge parkrun starts at 9am every Saturday about a mile from our door. Ingrebourne Hill and Raphael Park are both within a couple of miles. Havering AC trains out of Hornchurch Stadium, and Havering ’90 Joggers have been putting people round these parks for decades.

What we see at the clinic is the other side of all that mileage: tight calves in February, sore hips in marathon build-up, and the runner who has been ignoring one grumbly Achilles since April.

Here is an honest guide to what sports massage does, when it is worth booking, and what actually happens when you come in.

What sports massage is — and what it isn’t

Sports massage is firm, focused soft tissue work. Your therapist assesses how you are moving, finds the areas holding tension, and works through them with techniques suited to muscle rather than relaxation.

It is worth being straight about the evidence. The research on whether massage measurably improves athletic performance is mixed, and anyone telling you it flushes lactic acid or prevents injury is overselling it. What it reliably does is reduce the feeling of muscle soreness and tightness, and put a trained pair of hands on your legs regularly enough to notice when something is changing.

That second part matters more than people expect. Most running niggles announce themselves quietly for weeks before they stop you running.

When to book around your training

After a hard race or long run: leave it 24 to 48 hours. Immediately after a race your muscles are already inflamed and a deep treatment on top of that is uncomfortable and unnecessary.

Before a race: not in the final 48 hours if you have never had sports massage before. A first deep treatment can leave you tender for a day or two, and race morning is a poor time to discover that. A lighter treatment three to five days out is a safer choice.

In a training block: every three to four weeks suits most club runners. If you are building for a spring marathon, the useful window is January to March, when the mileage climbs and the weather makes everything stiffer.

When something is grumbling: don’t wait. A tight calf treated in week one is a very different conversation from one treated in week six.

What happens at your appointment

You will complete a consultation form covering your training, any injuries and your general health. Your therapist will talk it through with you and do a brief postural assessment — often this alone explains why one side is always the tight one.

The treatment itself should be firm but never something you have to grit your teeth through. Tell your therapist if the pressure is too much. It is your session, and pain is not a measure of whether it is working.

Afterwards you will get aftercare advice specific to what we found, and an honest view on whether you need to come back. If we think you should see a GP or a physiotherapist instead, we will say so.

One thing worth knowing: our sports massage is delivered by qualified sports therapists who understand soft tissue anatomy — not by a therapist applying firmer pressure and calling it sports massage. It is a genuine difference and it is why our prices sit where they do.

Getting to us

We are at 27a Station Lane in Hornchurch town centre, between Frankies Wine Bar and Lloyds Bank. The clinic is step-free at the entrance and in the treatment rooms.

• Bus: Hornchurch Town Centre stop, one minute away
• Tube: Hornchurch station on the District line, ten minutes on foot
• Parking: Dorrington Gardens car park (code 41305) is about a minute away, and there is pay and display street parking at Mavis Grove (code 41945)

We are open 10am to 8pm, seven days a week, which means you can get in after work rather than taking time off for it.

Booking

You can book online, or call us on 01708 898950 if you would rather talk it through first — particularly if you are carrying an injury and are not sure whether massage is the right call. We would rather tell you honestly than sell you a treatment that will not help.

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Motion Remedy is a massage and sports therapy clinic at 27a Station Lane, Hornchurch, serving Havering, Upminster, Romford and Emerson Park. Nothing in this article is medical advice — if you have a health concern, please speak to your GP.