Combine Your Love of Sports with Massage Therapy

April 23, 2015

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Classes Taught in English Only.

Use Your Love of Sports to Help Others

If you are interested in massage therapy as a career choice, you may want to specialize in a certain area. One popular area of massage therapy is sports massage. Being a sports massage therapist can be an exciting career path for people who love sports or for anyone who likes to help people.

A close up of a man massaging a womans neck

According to Massage Magazine, in 1970 a man named James Cyriax, M.D., developed a series of deep friction techniques for massage therapy that continues to be used in sports medicine today. However, in the U.S. sports massage was not widely used and was relatively unknown until 1972 when a Finnish track and field athlete credited it to winning both of his runs.

Working as a sports massage therapist can be a very rewarding job. According to Esteban Ruvalcaba, LMT, one of the benefits of working in sports massage is that you work with motivated individuals who want to get better. They appreciate your effort. The work environment for a sports massage therapist varies depending on the therapist. According to Sports Massage Q&A on the American Massage Therapy Association’s website, many of the therapists described working in gyms and offices, as well as outdoor events like marathons, triathlons and even the Olympics. If you enjoy traveling this could be an opportunity for you to work with athletes in different areas of the world. The atmosphere of being at events is a benefit for those who enjoy the energy of athletic events.

If you think that you would enjoy a career as a sports massage therapist, First Institute’s massage therapy program is a great option for you. In our program you will learn about several types of massage including sports massage. This will give you multiple options for your career path after graduation. For more information click here or call 815.459.3500.