12/11/2018
Marjon Sports massage clinic
1 hour

In today’s session I massaged this athlete (cyclist) on the back of his legs following a strenuous training session.

What I did in Today’s session:

I massaged my clients legs for around 45 minutes allowing me to prep the couch and clean down the client and work space post massage and to talk through aftercare and advice.

My client is a cyclist that trains quite frequently and therefore, they tend to have very tight leg muscles and it can become very painful for them. Having not had a massage in his life I noticed that it was causing him a lot of pain when I massaged due to the tightness in his legs, and started to ease up on the massage without conferring with my client first. This lead to him stating after the massage that he would have enjoyed it more if I  had applied more pressure making it feel more effective and beneficial.

Organisation for me today was good as the client turned up late I had more time to prep myself than I needed as I arrived early to ensure that this was done prior to them turning up.

During the massaging I used many massage techniques in petrissage to try work out the painful muscle adhesions that he has in his calves and in his hamstrings. However, because I used so many techniques I did  not get deep enough into the muscles than I should have.

Despite these problems it was good for me to use a variety of different techniques as I found out which ones he felt were most beneficial to him. This means that during my next appointment with him I can focus of the techniques he likes by applying more pressure to help relieve pain and reduce muscle adhesions for his next training session.

Areas for improvement:
The massage went pretty quickly only lasting for 45 minutes of the ideal hour session in which I could have used to massage the client move helping to relax them further. By spending longer on each technique working through effleurage, petrissage and tapotement this will allow me to extend the massage but still working through each massage technique on the tender areas more effectively.

The massage that I did was superficial, I did not get into the muscles as much as I should have and this was noticed by the client. By slowing the massage down it will allow me to work deeper into the muscles rather than a superficial massage (on the surface) and really breakdown the muscle adhesions. This will link to the above point of spending more time on each technique as I can really start to use them to get deeper into the muscles especially with petrissage.

Time-keeping today was not very good, my client was late which reduced the time I had to massage them in the first place. However, with setting up the bed, massageing and cleaning down after the massage, I did not have time to do the massage as I would have liked to as stated in the above areas for improvement. If I was to book a session for an hour and a half or 2 hours that would give me more time to do all tasks that are required and if I have more time than needed the session can finish earlier.

Things to remember:

1. START OFF WITH HIGH PRESSURE! A client will tell you if it hurts, they are less likely to tell you how to do your job and ask you to apply more pressure.
2. Book longer sessions! It’s better to have longer sessions and not need all the time rather than to not have enough time.
3. Even if a client is going to be late ALWAYS BE EARLY! It is better for you to be waiting for them rather than the unprofessional version of them waiting for you.