Fatigue is slow to clear. The body feels heavy. Even after the usual care, a particular movement is still difficult.
For concerns like these, Zeroka Seitai checks how muscle stiffness is involved. On that basis, we consider what Zeroka Seitai should respond to and when the athlete’s usual care should take priority.
Checking what the athlete needs now
In supporting athletes so far, when we thought that care such as sports massage was suitable, we have sometimes asked the athlete to have that care first.
On the other hand, when difficulty moving remained despite day-to-day care and we interpreted that muscle stiffness was involved, we have worked on that stiffness.
How we choose the response
Neither route necessarily resolves everything on its own. When several factors are involved, we consider the response to each and the order in which to address them.
What we have prioritised, and when
Scroll sideways to read the full table.
| Condition or progress observed | How we approach the response |
|---|---|
| Usual care is improving heaviness or difficulty moving | Check the changes that care is bringing, and keep using it. |
| We judged that care such as sports massage was suitable | Ask the athlete to give that care priority, then check the stiffness or movement issues that remain afterwards. |
| A particular stiffness or difficulty moving remains despite repeated care | Check the quality and distribution of the stiffness, interpret the remaining factors, such as muscle lock, and respond. |
| Muscle stiffness seems unlikely to be the main problem, or a movement issue remains after hands-on work | Recheck our interpretation, and consider with the athlete’s staff whether movement coaching, training or other input is needed. |
We do not fix roles after a single check; we update our judgement while watching the actual response.
Separating “what has eased” from “what remains”
For example, even after care has made the body feel lighter overall, changing direction one way may still be difficult.
In that case, taking into account the change the care has brought, we check the movement that is still difficult and the muscles involved in it.
“My body feels lighter”
“Changing direction this way is still difficult”
Zeroka Seitai considers that several factors can make muscles stiff. Separating what changed with one kind of care from what needs a different response gives us the next cue.
When combining care, sequence and response also matter
Sometimes the athlete has sports massage or similar care first, and we then respond to the problems that remain. On the other hand, there are also cases where we do not apply several methods at the same time during hands-on work, so that we can check a particular response. Our response to an area we interpret as being on the supply side, described in A-2, is one example.
We place importance on choosing a response that fits the current problem, and checking what changed after which response.
How we work with the care already provided
Sharing the following information with the athlete and their staff makes it easier to combine roles.
Scroll sideways to read the full table.
| What we share | How it helps the next response |
|---|---|
| What care the athlete usually receives | We can take the current support into account |
| What that care is changing | We can separate the benefits already being gained from the issues that remain |
| Which movement is currently difficult | We can make muscle checks and before-and-after movement checks more specific |
| What changed, and how, after the response | It can feed into planning the next care or training |
Making use of the changes the athlete’s usual care is bringing, while adding the response needed for the problems that remain. Zeroka Seitai works with the people who support the athlete to identify where checking and working on the muscles can help.