Massage therapist working for professional sports teams
Massage Therapists Working for Professional Sports Teams Rely on Next-Gen Equipment
Christian Mackin, co-founder & CEO, Massage Robotics
Professional athletes put their bodies through extremes. Massage therapists charged with treating them rely on cutting-edge tools to minimize damage and preserve performance.
Key takeaways:
No matter the sport, professional athletes subject their bodies to extreme exertions.
Massage therapy is instrumental in preventive body maintenance and in injury recovery.
Professional sports are a proving ground for new massage technologies and techniques.
Massage robots could become a competitive edge for sports clubs investing in athletes.
No matter the sport—from football to gymnastics, weightlifting to distance running—it takes years of hard training and stout determination to break into any professional sport. It means a lot of early morning practices and after-hours workouts, both of which put exacerbated stress and strain on the body to perform.
And that’s before going pro. After a call-up to the big leagues, the intensity only grows.
Today’s sports teams must prioritize the health of their athletes to keep them performing at their peak ability. Thankfully, professional athletes have access to a wide array of wellness and therapeutic technologies designed specifically to help them recover—including the latest innovations in massage technology.
The physiological toll of professional athletics
Over the course of a career, a professional athlete can expect grueling conditioning and drills, competitions and matches, and so much more. Staying in top physical form comes at a price—all this hard work takes a serious toll on the body.
Professional athletes experience plenty of wear and tear, and often encounter injury simply by nature of the situation—think about a linebacker colliding with a running back at 20mph or an endurance runner covering dozens of miles per week. From training to game-time performance, regardless of the sport, professional athletics take a tremendous toll on the body. Even athletes lucky enough to stay injury-free throughout their career face consequences in time.
While simply participating in a sport carries a risk of injury, professional athletes love what they do—and they need to support themselves, after all. Warming up, using proper equipment and even taking rest days can help athletes avoid injuries, especially from overuse. Focusing on proper recovery, whether after a match or a training session, can mitigate the risk of injury—all while preserving performance. Sports massage is a big part of this recovery.
Massage is a cornerstone of athletic training and recovery
It’s no secret that sports massage is vital to the health and well-being of professional athletes. By dallying muscle soreness, as well as reducing stiffness and fatigue following practice, a game, or exercise of any kind, massage provides a host of benefits to professional athletes of any sport.
From improving range of motion and soft tissue function to making athletes more aware of their muscle tone, regular massage is critical for professional athletes. It’s why most competitive clubs have massage therapists working for them to support the training and recovery efforts of athletes. Just like strength and conditioning translate from training to the playing field, massage brings the effort full circle, to improve preparation for performance and recuperation afterward.
Next-level sports massage requires leading-edge tools
Massage therapists at professional sports clubs do a lot more than just work with their hands. They have access to some of the most state-of-the-art tools and equipment, enabling them to practice targeted massage on athletes. From deep tissue massage guns to top-of-the-line tables, the massage therapists who practice their craft on professional athletes have the best tools to administer the best possible therapies.
Today, top-level equipment means top-level care. In fact, many of the latest massage technologies trace their origins to professional athletics. It’s often the proving ground for new innovations and ideas since those practicing massage therapy are held to a higher standard of administration—and the demands of those receiving massage are above and beyond a normal expectation. Better therapeutic tools are often a gateway to better athletic performance.
Christian Mackin, CEO of Massage Robotics
Massage robots are about to enter the fold
High-level therapeutic care comes at a cost, and maintaining a regular massage therapy program can be cost-prohibitive—even for professional athletic teams and clubs. It’s why the latest crop of emerging massage technologies is aimed at automation, as much as targeted palpation.
It won’t be long before massage robots find their place among massage programs for top-level athletes. Here’s why:
Precision massage. Massage robots provide targeted massage that addresses an athlete’s specific pain points. They can even be guided by simple voice commands—just tell them to go left or right, push harder or softer, etc.—to provide comfort and relief that matches an athlete’s preference.
Sensing protocol. Robots have great memories—and the ability to learn an athlete’s preferences. Since a massage robot remembers every nudge and touch each client prefers, they can deliver the same massage time and again. It’s consistency at its best, which translates into a better massage experience and outcomes.
Improved performance. Massage is incredibly beneficial for athletes, but it can be hard on the massage therapist. Because there’s no room for human error—a robot never gets tired—a massage robot is able to deliver a perfect massage, every time. They’re ready to perform at a superior level, whenever an athlete needs them to.
Massage as a competitive advantage
Cutting-edge technology like massage robots offer professional athletic clubs a competitive advantage—after all, it’s a reinvestment in athletic performance and recovery. It’s why so many clubs invest in new tech. A massage robot pays for itself in the results it helps to produce, and those benefits ultimately translate onto the playing field, where successful clubs make their money.
More important, however, massage robots have the potential to give players consistent, high-quality care that helps them perform and recover better throughout the duration of their careers (and beyond). It’s well worth the expense to see those results.