Time Out for Athletes...

Okay, so I am taking a Time Out from my Time Out for massage types blogging to talk a little about a group of my clients.

When I got into massage as a profession I had the idea that I would work in a day spa and work on professional men and women like myself. People who sat at desks all day and would end up with the neck kinks, and the shoulder issues and just the stress factors. So I thought, what better thing for me to do than work in a spa doing nothing but Swedish relaxation massage? In school they called those fluff and buff massages.

So I went through school and learned all about deep tissue and trigger point thinking it would be a sub-specialty I could offer. Just something I might use on a handful of clients who might need a little extra work. But I really thought the majority of my work would be on office workers looking for a little mini-vacation in the middle of their day. A fluff and buff specialist!

So imagine my surprise as my client base of athletes continues to grow. And imagine more of my surprise as I find how much I enjoy working on them. Athletes bring to the table (only a small pun intended) a real understanding and appreciation on how their bodies work. They tend to be regular clients because they know that massage helps them to recover and heal and perform better at their next competition. They also tend to share their secrets with other athletes. If they get a PR in a race, lift more than they were lifting the week before, recover from an event faster they tell people what their routine is, and they mention massage as part of that routine.

Athletes generally trend towards the deep tissue and trigger point work that I described earlier. But I also do myofascial release work and cranial sacral work and of course Swedish. What ever they need right then to help their bodies perform at the level they demand of them. And they are generally really open to suggestions from me on what work needs to be done, and what they need to do to follow up on their own aftercare.

Now selfishly, one of the things I really enjoy about my athletes is watching their bodies change and shift during their various seasons. Different muscle groups come to the forefront depending on what they are working on competition wise. Runners have different leg development depending on if they are marathon runners or sprinters. Someone who uses the rowing machine to train in the winter has different shoulder development than when they are crewing on the boat in the river during the summer. And I get to see the changes and work on the muscle groups. After studying each muscle in school, after viewing them in the cadaver videos and after feeling them on a normal body type, it's very cool for me as a therapist to see the muscle in stark relief on a client's body. I also like to think that when a client of mine does well in a competition, that I had something to do with it.

So if you are a weekend warrior or a hard core hard body, remember to add massage into your training routine. Your benefits? Quicker recovery times. Someone else to give you feedback on how your muscles are developing and potential problems or training imbalances. And it just feels good to have a massage.

See you soon!