To Avoid Injury a Self-Care Warm Up is Essential

During a full body massage, massage therapists use their entire body when they treat someone. So, to avoid those injuries that will shorten your career practicing, you should warm up before treatment. As you use your whole body you should really stretch and warm up all of it too. Personally, I like to start with a stretch.

My Pre-massage Warm Up Rountine

• All through this warmup, there should be no joint cracking going on, it is a gentle stretch.
• First neck running around the shoulders in a circle both directions and touching ear to shoulder gently.
• Next, I bend at the waist for a short time to stretch my back. Gently forward to touch the ground. Gently to both sides arms over the head. Then head up facing the sky and stretch backward.
• Then I would make circles with my hips like using a hoola-hoop one way then the other.
• Then I would take a lowish horse stance (like you were in the saddle of a horse riding) and gently move up and down while continuing with the below.
• Next, I move my fully stretched arm around in small, medium, and then big circles one direction then the other.
• Then, while still in horse stance bobbing up and down, I would stretch my wrists in all directions.
• Then I would stretch all the tendon and ligaments in my legs by taking an extended front stance.
• To be honest, this gentle warm up is improved with some martial arts set movements also called kata, which can take a couple of minutes or longer.
• After this, you should feel ready.