First thing this afternoon when I woke up I had a Thai massage. As she started I wondered if I shouldn't have done some stretches first and gone for a walk to warm the muscles up a bit. What's the skinny? Is it better to exercise before a massage or doesn't it matter?

First thing this afternoon when I woke up I had a Thai massage. As she started I wondered if I shouldn't have done some stretches first and gone for a walk to warm the muscles up a bit. What's the skinny? Is it better to exercise before a massage or doesn't it matter?

I always exercise first; might be a long walk or a gym workout with weights. The massage is my treat to myself for exercising. It feels great and helps to soothe sore muscles.

Same, always nice to get a massage after exercising.

After exercise wait a little bit, shower, cool down and rehydrate a bit and importantly  let the pores close. This is especially important in Thailand as they tend to use baby oil / mineral oil which does not absorb well into the skin, rather than oils such as Grapeseed oil which is meant to be absorbed and has benefits (acts like a diuretic) like not leaving your skin feeling greasy afterwards.

Edited April 24, 20188 yr by insider

I prefer the dry Thai traditional style massage anyway. It's especially good when they hurt and stretching involved. The one I had the other day there wasn't much stretching, some are better than others.

I prefer a nice oily body massage followed by sexercise.

When in Pattaya I have a Thai massage after the gym , look forward to it .

They make me sleepy - i feel like a drunk zombie after a massage. No way could i exercise.

To have a foot massage soon after a round of golf.....sheer bliss !

Both, before and after.

I walk to the massage parlor (before) and after the massage walk back to the hotel (after).

This has always worked well for me.

You just can't over exercise.

LeoTex

If you go to Gym a massage is better after exercising it helps reduce the amounts of lactic acid build up after heavy lifting exercises or high reps.