Remember that term “isometric” in massage school? What does it mean, and have you ever used it since? An isometric exercise is defined as a muscle contraction where no movement occurs.
Even if you never use isometric exercise with your massage clients, there is good reason to use it yourself. Your body staying injury-free during your massage career is the best reason, but another reason is maintaining strength and mobility as you age. Knowing your fatigue threshold or fatigue line is one piece of information we will cover here, along with how strength training helps to increase that threshold.
Fatigue Line
Fatigue precedes overuse injuries. Massage therapists need exercise, including strength training, to sustain a healthy body in this physically demanding field. Strength in the muscle groups used most is required to prevent fatigue and injury.
I am sure you can name the number of sessions you can complete before the next session isn’t your best. That is your fatigue line. The point at which strength and body mechanics are affected. This fatigue line can be extended with strength training and should be for full-time therapists wanting to increase their number of sessions per week.
Even part-time massage therapists need fundamental strength to support joints like hands, wrists, and shoulders. The first step to injury prevention is identifying where your fatigue line is today.
[Watch a free webinar: Best Body Mechanics with Angela Lehman, The FitMT, here.]
Muscles Needing Strength
Ideally, every massage therapist would have total body strength enough to safely perform 25 sessions a week. However, this isn’t the reality, so I’ve picked the top six muscles to strengthen first.
Of course, there are other muscles you’ll want to strengthen, but when starting, this is an excellent place to begin. After understanding why these are the massage therapists’ “master muscles,” you can start strengthening with simple isometric exercises.
Isometric Exercises Build Strength
Core builder
The rectus abdominisis the muscle that keeps a flat stomach but, more importantly, provides a strong core for massage therapists to avoid back pain. Try this isometric exercise to get stronger and move more fluidly around the massage table.
• Begin by laying on your back. Bring both knees toward your chest.
• Place your hands onto the tops of the knees. Action: Press your hands into the knees as if trying to push them away. The knees will not move, but you’ll feel your abs contract.
Superman
• The erector spinae group of muscles is the posterior half of the oh-so-important core. Like most posterior muscles, it most likely needs to be stronger than it currently is. Training these muscles improves your posture and fluidity around the massage table. You will carry yourself better and protect your back too.
• Begin by laying on your stomach. With arms outstretched above your head, lift your arms and legs off the ground as if you are flying like Superman.
• Tip: Squeeze your legs together and raise them as one unit with the glutes contracted.
• The serratus anterioris the must-have muscle for every massage stroke. Without the serratus, the scapula would move uncontrollably, and giving a massage would be very difficult.
Plank
• This exercise is called a plank, and it’s an excellent isometric hold using the serratus anterior and a variety of other muscles.
• Begin on hands and knees. Raise onto your toes, so your legs are straight and supported by your upper body resting on your forearms.
• Align your elbows underneath your shoulders and keep your body straight from the feet to the hip to the shoulder. Be aware of where your hips are during the plank. They should not be sagging towards the ground or raised too high into the air.
• The pectoralis majorhelps stabilize our strokes at the massage table. More pressure should be recruited from our legs, but the pectoralis will contract as the stroke is delivered. Think of that deep myofascial glide down the erector spinae, for example.
• The heel of your hand is connected to the erectors, and your pectoralis major is engaged throughout the stroke.
Negative Pushup
• Begin in push-up position with the arms straight beneath the shoulders.
• Slowly lower your body towards the ground by bending your elbows. Stop when your body is a few inches from the ground and hold. This is the isometric contraction.
• The deltoids work as soon as you move your arm in front of you to apply a stroke at the massage table. The glenohumeral joint is supported, in part, by the deltoids, which makes this muscle a top pick to strengthen for massage therapists.
Isometric Hold
• In this isometric hold, your opposite hand will push down on your outstretched arm.
• To begin, raise one arm in front of you as if pointing to something.
• Take the opposite hand and place it above the elbow of the outstretched arm.
• Push down on the outstretched arm but resist the downward pressure.
• Keep the pressure consistent, or press harder if you aren’t feeling anything. No movement will occur, but the deltoid on the outstretched arm will contract.
• Do one arm and then switch and do the other.
• The trapeziusmuscle’s shape helps us massage in different ways. The lower fibers help keep both scapulae down, and the middle fibers help our shoulders stay back or retract the scapula.
• Your posture will improve when the trapezius is strong, making your massage easier and less tiresome. Say goodbye to mid-back pain when this muscle is strong.
Trapezius Squeeze
• This is called a trapezius squeeze. Begin by laying on your stomach with your arms out to the side, elbows bent. I call these cactus arms.
• Next, slide your scapula down (engaging your lower trapezius fibers) before you lift your chest and arms off the ground.
• Squeeze the shoulder blades together and hold.
• Hold and squeeze harder if you don’t feel anything. This is the isometric contraction.
The Genius of Isometrics
Isometric exercises are perfect for beginners. Strong or not, isometric exercises can be tailored to fit your strength level.
Isometric exercises are easy to do anywhere and don’t require equipment. Do you have five minutes in between clients? Do the trapezius squeeze.
Isometrics are difficult! You wouldn’t think these isometric exercises could make you sore, but they are more challenging than they look. Don’t let the lack of movement fool you. You can always push harder, pull longer, or hold the squeeze (contraction) longer to make them more difficult.
Isometric exercises won’t make you sweaty. (Well, if you do enough of them, you can probably break a sweat.) Although, this type of exercise is perfect if you need to fit some movement in between clients or while standing in the grocery store line.
Know Your Load
As a massage therapist, you should be aware of your fatigue line and always train your body to maintain or extend that line. In other words, know your client load and make sure your body is strong enough to handle that load. If your fatigue line is at three clients a day, but your schedule has four a day, you are at risk for injury.
Do isometric strength training to increase your fatigue line so your body can comfortably work your current client load. Begin with these exercises for the master muscles of massage therapists. Increase client load gradually along with your strength to keep a healthy body.
You can get the strength you need without moving a muscle. It seems counterintuitive but so cool.
About the Author
Angela Lehman is a massage therapist of 25 years turned online educator, promoting fitness and nutrition for massage therapists. She runs The Fit MT. With her kinesiology degree specialized in nutrition, she trains therapists in healthy eating, exercise and body mechanics to prolong their careers. Search massagemag.com to read her The Fit MT column on topics including body mechanics, gut health and more.
Illustrations ©Angela Lehman.