6 things the England team should try before their World Cup match this Saturday

Well, well, well. Either you’re still smiling, you’re still chanting, or your head’s seriously pounding. The England match was a tense affair, but ended on a major high (Jordan Pickford, we salute you). So, how can our lads maintain their condition ahead of the next match, to bring that winning streak? Massage and muscle treatments, that’s how. In case you need some suggestions, gents, we’ve rounded up the ultimate ‘recovery’ checklist. Football might be coming home, but it’s time you left it – and headed for a treatment.

By Rachel Spedding

• 1 Cupping

  Cupping is derived from ancient Chinese and Egyptian medicine, and is hugely popular today (the swimmers love it too). How’s it done? A lit match is held inside a glass cup to create a vacuum, this is then placed on the surface of the skin and left for up to twenty minutes. The suction promotes blood flow in the body to prevent build up of lactic acid in the muscles. There’s a number of perks to trying it, from reducing fatigue, to decreasing joint pain – Harry Kane, it’s a good one for spinal injuries (we saw you holding your back last night). ​
• 2 Sports massage

  Using techniques from Swedish (cheeky) and Shiatsu massage, a sports massage rubs away aches and pains, and helps your muscles to relax for a better range of movement and improved flexibility (incase Sweden prove as tactically physical as Colombia – ahem). Pressure on the muscles will open up the pores in deep tissue membranes, that helps to get rid of built-up lactic acid increase oxygen flow, speeding up injury recovery. Gareth Southgate, sort this one out for the boys, make them whole again, yeah? ​
• 3 Acupuncture

  The main goal of acupuncture is to relieve physical and mental tension, through rebalancing ‘qi’ (that’s pronounced ‘chee’) in the body. It’s another oldie – but a goodie – and works by inserting needles into certain ‘acupoints’ in the body for therapeutic relief and prevention purposes. The needles stimulate the body to produce pain-relieving endorphins through engaging the nervous system. It’s pretty much pain free, you’ll just feel the needles as they’re placed in the skin (they’ll be left to work for between 5-20 minutes). In fact, a treatment will help to relieve pain, and improve sleep – you’ll no doubt need a hand nodding off on Friday night, team – good time to book? ​
• 4 Lymphatic drainage

  From increasing circulation, to banishing bloatedness, a lymphatic drainage massage offers a whole host of healing properties. The specialised massaged is sometimes referred to as a ‘detox’ massage as it helps to keep your immune system in check: Kane, if you sneeze at all before Saturday, please book this (we need you). The lymphatic system removes toxins, waste and unwanted materials from the body, so it’s vital to keep it functioning properly. This massage is an ideal way to increase energy, through stimulating the body’s circulation. So, you know, if the team end up on the pitch for over 90 minutes again, they’ll be more than ready.
• 5 Hydrotherapy

  Not just a dip in the pool – though you definitely deserve a spa trip Eric Dier – hydrotherapy uses hot and cold water to literally wash away muscle tenderness. From meditiational floatation tanks, to spa circuits with ice cold pools, the therapy helps to relieve tension too (in the body, not between players). Exercising in a heated pool is a good start: warm water soothes aching joints and boosts blood flow, bringing oxygen to injured muscles. It’ll also help maintain muscle tone in your limbs – hear that Jordan Pickford? We need your arms on form again.
• 6 Deep tissue massage

  The ultimate massage for lowering stress hormones (Henderson, imagine washing away the pressure of that missed pen). Lingering back pain, and arthritic joint aches have been shown to reduce after a really good deep tissue massage. Pulled muscles? This massage will minimise the pain and ease the symptoms through reducing swelling. How’s that? Deep tissue movements allow blood to flow freely to the damaged tissue. Swap the bench for the massage table, boys.

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