The Team Within The Team
All of the staff are literally another team, within a sports team, its not just about the athletes working together.
As I mentioned before, you could be tasked with some menial work while another member of the medical staff is working directly with the athletes at a warm up or cool down.
You cant have an ego about this!
Even if you work with a team at home and youre the head trainer, that may not be your role when you travel with a national team. They will have a specific job description for you, and its important you adhere to it. There are some really long days where you could be setting up a dressing room, or loading equipment for travel , while the coaches are doing their prep work, logistics are organizing travel, and other members are filling the role for whatever their responsibility is.
But just like the athletes who may be playing a smaller role on the team than they play at home, everyone comes together as a team to accomplish a goal. EVERYONE is filing a different role than they are used to. There will be days you get frustrated, youll be tired, and maybe even annoyed with other staff members. But part of being on a team is the ability to put that aside, come together, and work for the benefit of the athlete, its about them, not you.
Dr Pete Is A Passionate And Very Caring Chiropractor
Pete really enjoys taking the time to get to know you and your issues to ensure you have the best outcome from your chiropractic experience.
He enjoys working closely with the massage team at Chiropractic Plus and regularly hosts training sessions for our team, and maintains healthy working relationships with local exercise physiologists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, personal trainers and GPs.
He uses a large variety of techniques including musculoskeletal acupuncture, Dry needling, integrated needling, electro needling, myofascial needling and post operative/ injury recovery needling.
He also uses IASTM therapy and is trained in advanced core rehabilitation.
Pete is also a very movement based Chiropractor and will ensure you have all the tools you need to improve your health at home, leisure and at work. This can include ergonomic assessments of driving, sleep, exercise and hobby biomechanics and posture.
He regularly gets patients to take photos and videos performing their chosen sports/exercises to help them work through their problems.
Outside of work Pete is married and a proud father to 3 boys. He enjoys a variety of ocean and nature activities as well as martial arts and tennis.
Effects On Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Delayed onset muscle soreness is a common physiological response experienced by athletes after initiating or resuming an exercise routine, after increasing exercise intensity, or after performing eccentric forms of training .29 Delayed onset muscle soreness has been associated with minor to severe pain occurring 24 to 72 hours after the exercise bout.29 Athletic performance may be hampered due to DOMS, loss of range of motion, and decreased muscle strength.30,31 While these symptoms may be temporary and part of the natural process of strength and conditioning training, the ramifications for sports performance during competition may be staggering. Theoretically, it would be beneficial to prescribe modalities that could either prevent the onset or decrease the impact of DOMS.
Six theories have been proposed to explain the mechanisms of DOMS.29 The six theories are: lactic acid, muscle spasm, connective tissue damage, muscle damage, inflammation, and enzyme efflux.29 Researchers have specifically investigated the effects of massage upon blood lactate levels and changes in blood flow .20,32,33
Also Check: Massage Therapy School Birmingham Al
Massage Therapist John G Louis Has Worked With Professional Athletes Including The 2005 World Series Champions Chicago White Sox Baseball Team
Here, Louis outlines challenges and successes in the world of sports massage therapy, and gives some advice to therapists interested in taking their sports massage careers all the way into the end zone.
When I began my career as a massage therapist in 1980, there were only a handful of us in the U.S. who worked full-time with professional athletes. I quickly realized that massage therapy for pro athletes was going to growand that one day most, if not all, professional athletes would receive regular therapeutic massage. So far, my predictions have only partially come to pass.
I have a lot of passion around this subject. Massage for athletes has been my lifes work. I was fortunate enough to have some amazing opportunities over the years. Ive worked for five teams and have been part of two championship teams: the 1984 Soccer Bowl Champions, the Chicago Sting and the Chicago White Sox baseball team in the 2005 World Series.
My time with the 2005 World Series Champions Chicago White Sox is the work Im most proud of. The players who saw me regularly had terrific results and played some of the best baseball of their careers. I believe my work during that season was a necessary component of winning the championship. The entire medical staff deserves credit as well.
Some of the Chicago Sting players and staff in our box at the Toyota Park.
John G. Louis, LMT
Kirralee Watton Is A Local Novocastrian Who Attended Glendale Technology High School
Kirralee graduated in 2009 to begin her Diploma of Remedial Massage at Body-Lee Massage College. During her remedial massage course, Kirralee was given the opportunity to massage the Newcastle Knights some invaluable experience for treating sports-specific injuries and muscular damage. Kirralee enjoys dancing and listening to music.
Don’t Miss: Massage Envy West End Nashville
Eliza Joined The Chiropractic Plus Team In 2017 During This Time She Studied Business Administration And Human Resources At Tafe And Then Went On To Complete A Bachelor Of Nursing At The University Of Newcastle
Eliza has a passion for holistic health care and aims to assist our patients wherever she can. Outside of work Eliza values time with her family, friends and travelling where she can with her Fiancé.
Now as one of Chiropractic Pluss Practice Managers Eliza is always available to speak with if you have any questions or concerns.
Learning New Skills As A Sports Massage Therapist
One of the best parts of a career in sports massage is that youll continue to gain new skills. From learning new massage techniques to improving existing skills, the success of your career will depend largely on your ongoing education. Discover Massage Australia offers a range of sports therapy massage courses, including Deep Tissue Massage and Whole Body Massage. With a qualification in one or all of these courses, youll be equipped to pursue a career in sports massage and use your skills to treat a range of clients.
Don’t Miss: Talladega Power Rocking Recliner W Massage & Heat
Natalie Is A Chiropractor With A Wide Range Of Skills Including Dry Needling Muscle Release Techniques And Exercise Rehabilitation
Natalie is passionate about chiropractic care for all life stages and works closely with our massage therapy team to ensure the best results for her patients.
Natalie began her chiropractic journey as a teenager. At the time, she was representing Australia in netball and trying to manage a low back injury. She found that chiropractic not only helped improve her symptoms but positively influenced other aspects of her daily life. In fact, it sparked her passion in what has so far been an amazing career in health and wellbeing. Natalie began her career in Sydney but has since settled with her family in beautiful Newcastle.
Since then, she has enjoyed interacting with bubs to grandparents and everything in between. Having had a child herself, Natalie understands and advocates the necessity for pregnancy and prenatal care, plus early intervention for children. The biggest joy Natalie receives is seeing the beautiful changes in the health and wellbeing of the individuals and families she is seeing.
Natalie loves working with other like-minded professionals, including podiatrists, exercise physiologists, personal trainers, pelvic floor physiotherapists and acupuncturists, to ensure her patients reach all their health goals.
Away from the clinic, Natalie enjoys staying active through Pilates and weight training, reading far too many books, and spending as much precious time as possible with her family.
Effects Of Massage On Sports Performance
Athletes and coaches are constantly fine tuning their training strategies in order to develop a competitive edge. The use of therapeutic modalities, such as thermal agents, electrical stimulation, and massage are often performed for this purpose. Despite the frequency that massage treatments are performed, only a few studies exist in the literature that have investigated the effect of massage on sports performance .
Recommended Reading: Back Massage Chairs For Sale
Be Sensitive And Empathetic With Clients
Its important to remember that an essential part of a sports massage therapist job description is being aware of the client and the sensitive situation they are in.
Remembering that the role is essentially a clinical one, youre going to be dealing with people in difficult situations as well as being confidential and respectful of their information.
Thats why its vital that youre sensitive and show empathy towards your clients.
This will be especially important when working with athletes or members of a sports team that have an injury.
This may be compromising their ability to play or perform so its important to remember that youre there to help but also to understand their situation and how serious it is for them.
This is why a lot of jobs will stipulate this in the person specification of certain roles. One of the ones we looked at earlier includes developing empathy as an important skill theyre looking for in potential employees:
If you can show that youre compassionate and understanding of clients issues, and the potential effect they have on their career and performance, youll have developed one of the key skills for the sports massage therapy job description!
Develop Good Communication Skills
Communication skills are some of the most important ones to develop because they will be used in every element of your job as a sports massage therapist.
Your job description means communicating directly with your clients about their injuries, their needs, and their development, as well as their performance and how they feel they might be improving over time.
This will also be vital for working as part of a team. You will need to communicate properly with other healthcare and fitness professionals to ensure that exactly the right care programme is provided for clients.
This is another key skill thats outlined in job listings from potential employers so you want to be able to prove youre a great communicator to fulfil all the key aspects of the SMT job description!
You May Like: Relax And Recharge Massage Chair
Kirbie Joined The Chiropractic Plus Team In 2019
She is a wife and mother of two young children with a strong administration background. During her time at Chiropractic Plus Kirbie worked her way up to become a Practice Manager and now strives to provide holistic patient care and interactions.
Kirbie is always available to speak with should you have any questions or concerns.
Why More And More Sports Stars Are Turning To Massage For Its Recuperative Powers
In Western culture, we typically relate the art of massage to relaxationthe image of people on spa days or relaxing in vacation resorts lying face down on a table for a half-hour or hour-long session as a reward to themselves. But the history of massage goes back to a time where its recuperative powers were the main attraction.
Going back to about the year 2500 BC, ancient Chinese writings describe the use of massage in treatment of illness and injury. Today, when used professionally, massage can be used to treat everything from pain in patients with cancer to musculoskeletal injuries and even stress and relaxation.
It stands to reason, therefore, that elite athletes who depend on optimal physical performance to make their living would utilize the modality. As recently as 10 years ago, studies concluded that the relationship between athletics and effective massage techniques was unproven at best.
Now, more and more physical therapists and certified trainers are becoming educated in different massage techniques, suggesting the art is gaining popularity among elite athletes. A rundown of potential benefits includes:
Injury treatment and prevention. The word injury doesnt conjure pleasant images for anyone, but elite athletes are particularly spooked by the concept. The effects on performance, preparation, and confidence can tarnish or undo weeks or even months of training.
Increased energy and oxygen? Sounds like a dream come true for most athletes.
Professional Advice
Recommended Reading: Best Face Massage Cream For Glowing Skin
Lian Is An Incredibly Skilful Remedial Massage Therapist With Many Years Of Experience She Is Very Passionate About Looking After Her Clients
Lian brings an impressive range of skills and techniques to massage from her Eastern/Chinese heritage. She uses dry needling, electro-therapy, cupping, and hot stones to enhance and compliment her other traditional massage techniques. Although Lian studied remedial massage in Australia, it is her integration of multiple techniques tailored to the clients needs, that makes her so unique and such an in-demand massage therapist at Chiropractic Plus.
Lian also studies and researches alternate massage techniques in her spare time to further her knowledge and capability, and to integrate new techniques and methods into her treatments.
When Lian is not in the clinic, she loves to garden and cook. She also enjoys watching rugby league and cheering on her team, the Sydney Roosters.
Dru Is A Qualified Remedial Massage Therapist And Exercise Trainer
Dru places a great emphasis on a structural integrated approach to treating chronic pain correcting the underlying postural and biomechanical dysfunctions which contribute to long term problems through a combination of manual therapy, lifestyle modification and corrective exercises. Dru brings unique insight to his practice as a remedial massage therapist through his experience training and working with athletes in numerous sports and martial arts including Boxing, Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. Dru is a strong advocate for the Health At Every Size approach and is one of only two currently registered HAES practitioners in Newcastle. Having completed diplomas in both Fitness and Remedial Massage, Dru is now studying a Bachelor of Exercise Science at the University of Newcastle.
Recommended Reading: Best Massage Places In Houston
Brittany Joined The Chiropractic Plus Team In 2021
She is currently studying a Bachelor of Physiotherapy at Charles Sturt University and has strong passion for sports, especially long jump in which she competes in at a National Level.
Britt is always ready to assist you with appointment bookings, payments, and any queries you may have in clinic or over the phone.
What Is A Sports Massage Therapist
A sports massage therapist is trained to condition the muscles of athletes by means of specialised massage techniques. Sports massage therapists typically work with athletes who need help preparing their muscles for exercise, as well as with recovery and injury management.
Depending on the case, the role of a sports massage therapist may include running a sports teams warm up and cool down and providing some training in the gym prior to events in order to reduce the risk of injury and enhance physical performance.
While a sports massage therapist does not perform the role of the team coach, they are trained to help with sports practices and to assist with any injuries that occur. Part of the training for sports massage includes taping and sports strapping, which can be very helpful in both injury prevention and injury management.
Because a sports massage therapist is qualified with advanced first aid, they also play a valuable role in dealing with accidents and injuries on the field.
Read Also: Best Scrubs For Massage Therapists
Originally From Newcastle Peter Has Always Enjoyed Being Active This In Combination With His Previous Career As An Electrician In The Mines Led To Him Sustaining Numerous Injuries His Interactions With Manual Therapists Post
In 2014, after graduating from Macquarie University with a Masters of Chiropractic Peter moved to Queensland and for six years worked in private practice.
He uses evidence-based practice utilising the diversified technique, dry needling, drop piece, and rehabilitation exercises.
Peter has tutored first and fourth year chiropractic students at Central Queensland Universities Brisbane City Campus. He is a qualified Pilates Mat Instructor after completing Polestars Pilates Matwork Certificate IV in 2019.
Peter is a passionate and friendly chiropractor who works with integrity and enjoys interacting with a wide range of patients from pediatrics to adults.
Keep Your Eye On The Goal
Pre- and mid-event sports massage therapies share an overarching goal and the same range of techniques. The overlap makes sense when you consider definitions.
- A pre-event sports massage typically happens between 10 to 60 minutes before an event to prepare an athletes body for activity.
- A mid-event sports massage typically hap-pens between 10 to 60 minutes before an athlete resumes activity, whether thats heading back to the field after halftime or getting set for a second track and field event.
In both instances, its about prepping the body for activity, which means maximizing blood flow to the muscles that an athlete will use most in competition, explains Jim Earley, LMT, licensed sports massage therapist. When blood flow is at its best, it takes longer for a muscle group to fatigue and makes recovery after competition easier, he says.
Sports massage techniques that best achieve this goal are quicker, lighter strokes that help loosen soft tissue, reduce adhesion and steer clear of any invasive strokes used to make adjustments during the off-season. That means no deep tissue work, says Penny Capps, board-certified massage therapist and a certi-fied sports massage therapist. The last thing you want to do before or during competition is make a modification that throws off the athletes game.
Capps offers these as the go-to traditional pre- and mid-event sports massage strokes:
- Pump compressions or compressions
- Gliding or effleurage
- Broad cross-fiber friction
Also Check: Full Body Massage Greensboro Nc