Massage Therapist Hands
If we had a pound for every time we get asked this, we’d be very rich! Not that we mind of course, it’s really nice that people think of us and care. We make sure we look after ourselves so you get the best treatment possible regardless if it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night. 

We take care of our joint to stop getting hurt 

Being protective over our joints is something we are very strict about at Fire & Earth Massage Academy, without it we won’t last long as full time therapists. As that is our goal, to help our students start their dream job and become full time therapist, it is imperative that we drill it into all our students from day one to be careful with how they use their bodies. Many of us at Fire & Earth have been in our full time therapy careers well over 5 years, some us are pushing 15 years so we know how to get this right! 
 
That being said in the early days you can’t really get away from the fact that you will ache in places you didn’t think you would! The amount of squatting and lunging that goes on makes you feel like you’e just done a body pump class without the weights, bonus! Students often tell us how tired they feel at the beginning of the course but as the months roll on they become stronger and adapt to massaging regularly. 
 
You can also feel quite tired at first as you get used to the emotional nature of the role, as therapists we love our clients so want to give them the best possible service, but you also need to protect yourself from taking on too much. This is where the support of a team is crucial to being a successful, happy therapist. 

How do you support your joints as a sports massage therapist? 

When it comes to our hands we make sure we ‘re-enforce’ our joints, meaning we support our thumbs and fingers with the opposite thumb or finger, to give stability and strength. We would never use these smaller tools on large muscle groups like hamstrings or quadriceps during deep work but rather use our forearms, elbows or palms. 
 
Another strategy to reduce wear and tear on our joints is to limit the number of clients we see in a day. Each therapist is different but the magic number tends to be 7 treatments per day for sustainability and quality. Depending on how you’d like to work and what you need to cover financially will impact the therapists decision here but we cover all of these elements in our business module. Understanding how all of these things impact you are really important to sustainability. 

What if I’m worried about not being physically fit enough? 

We’d say don’t worry, it comes with time and if you are careful and follow our advise you shouldn’t become too overloaded. There are always ways around everything so don’t let that put you off. 
 
If you have any questions about becoming a sports massage therapist drop us an email, we’d love to hear form you! :-) 
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