There’s a way to stand out from the crowd without having to learn a specialty massage or spend any money. But you’ll need to do something that most MTs won’t do or don’t like doing. You’ll need to do precise massage.

“Precise” massage?

Dude, you mean “detail” massage.

Nope, I mean precise massage.

Detail/focus work is when you comprehensively address a client’s area(s) of concern.

For example, Ashyra comes in with tight shoulders. If I’m doing detail work, I’m going to work her traps, levator scapulaes and cervical erectors at the origins, insertions, etc.

With precise massage, I’m going to zero in on areas, but I’m not going to be as thorough as I would be with detail/focus massage. Also, many of the areas that I zero in on won’t be the client’s areas of concern.

For example, Mohamed wants a relaxation massage. He mentions that he has a sore neck and achy feet.

I massage his neck and find tightness around C2. I spend a little time addressing that area. Then I work down his back.

At about L2 I find tightntess. Even though this is a non-issue area for Mohamed, I spend 15 to 30 seconds working that area.

By the time I’m done the massage, I may have zeroed in on 50 spots.

Value of Precise Massage

Precise massage makes money.

About 50% of the massages that I do in a week involve precise work exclusively. Another 25% is a mix between precise and detail massage. While the remaining 25% is pure detail work.

Here’s why I think my clients love precise massage.

1. It’s relaxing.
2. As with the case of detail massage, precise massage can provide pain relief.
3. Clients discover new things about their bodies.

“Never knew my hammies hurt there.”

4. You show that client you care when you highlight tight and/or pain areas.
5. You demonstrate thoroughness.
6. You gain competency points with your clients because you’re finding all the owies.

Easy to Get Started

The beauty of doing precise massage is that there’s virtually no barrier to entry.

Here’s what I mean. For detail work you need to know anatomy.

Not so with precise work. You just need to be able to find the tight spots.

Since you already know how to look for tight spots, there’s really no learning curve. You just need to look for tight spots more often than you normally do.

By the way, if finding tight spots is not a slam dunk for you, don’t sweat it. My hands were like stone when I first started massage. Can you say “worst palpator ever”? Here’s how I got better: How to Palpate Without Palpating.

Will it Kill My Hands?

Okay, are your hands curled in the fetal position at the thought of having to press on a lot of tight spots?

Don’t worry. Your hands are going to be fine. Promise.

Here’s why. You’re going to use massage tools and combine body parts.

Quite frankly, this is the secret sauce. Once you get these two skills under your belt, you can rely on precise massage as your main money-maker from here on out.

To learn about using massage tools, start with this: Why You’re Not Using Your Massage Tool.

For combining body parts, check out this video: How to Combine Body Parts

One More Thing: Angle of Pressure

Once you get the searching and pressing down, you can add in pressing from different angles.

When I first started massage, I’d “stand on” a tight spot. Well, not literally, but that’s what it felt like to clients—so I’ve been told. Oops.

Later I learned that clients really liked it when I changed up the angle of my pressure.

So, for example, instead of always coming straight down on a tight spot, I’d experiment with a 45 degree angle.

Changing the angle of pressure helped me to NOT overwork a spot. It was also good when straight down pressure was too intense.

In a Nutshell

Here’s what the whole shebang looks like in 3 steps.

1. Always search for tight spots and tender areas when doing a massage.
2. Use massage tools and combination body parts for the tight/tender spots.
3. Approach tight/tender areas from different angles.

A Free Signature Massage

If specializing in a massage modality is where your passion lies, by all means, go for it. But if you’re just looking to stand out from the competition, invest your time in precise massage.

It won’t cost you a penny.

And if you use massage tools and combine body parts, you won’t burn out your hands.

Massage Tools Online CEU Class

If you want to get serious about using massage tools to deliver focused pressure and set yourself apart from the crowd, I have an online, home-study CEU course for you.

It’s my bread-and-vegan butter live course that will get you comfortable with using massage tools, even in a relaxation massage.

You can check it out here: How to Use Massage Tools (Fearlessly and Effectively).

A while back, I trained MTs to do hotel massage. Some were fresh out of massage school. I used to get overwhelmed trying to tweak their massages, but eventually I discovered something important: If I could help them master transitions, big things, like flow and maintaining consistent pressure, would fall into place.

Hotel Massage Training

Hotel massage comes with extra pressure. For example, during a hotel massage the MT has to create a “massage space” before the client even gets on the table.

So when I was training MTs for hotel massage, I wanted to take some of the pressure off them by thoroughly preparing them. One way to prepare them was to make sure that they could confidently handle the number one massage request: a relaxation massage with some focus work.

Relaxation massage with some focus work was of special interest to me because I really struggled with it for the first 5 years of my massage career. I wish I had understood good transitions back then.

[bctt tweet=”Guinness Book of Massage Records: Me–took the longest time to do a decent massage.” username=”Mark LiskeyMarkLiskey”]

Transitions

I break down transitions into 2 categories: location and body parts.

A location transition is when you’ve been working in one area and then move to another area.

A body part transition occurs when you change how you’re applying pressure. For example, going from fist to thumbs or palms to elbows would be body part transitions.

Location Transition

Good location transitioning, moving from one body area to another area, is not necessarily straightforward. There are 3 things that a client could experience during a location transition that would make the massage feel less relaxing:

1. Varying pressures.

This happens when you start moving and your pressure changes.

2. The massage feels rushed.

You don’t think you’re going to get everything done so you start rushing.

3. Massage therapist seems disconnected.

If you’re not searching for things (e.g., tight areas) underneath your fingers (or whatever body part you’re using to massage with), you have a greater chance of going off into la-la land. When that happens the client may feel like you’re just going through the motions.

Consistent Pressure is Relaxing

To maintain consistent pressure move you feet. Moving your feet allows you to position your body so that you can easily apply pressure.

If you’re positioned in front of the client’s head and you’re reaching to work the lumbar area, you’re overextended. In this position, it’s difficult to maintain consistent pressure. However, if you work from the side of the table, near the head, and move your feet (location transition) to get to the lumbar area, you’ll be able to easily maintain consistent pressure.

In this video I show you what I mean: Moving Your Feet Video.

Quality Over Quantity

When I try to slow MTs down, I have them do the One Minute drill. Here’s how the One Minute drill works: The MT has one minute to massage a foot, calf and upper leg. New MTs often panic when I say go, and they rush to get as much done as possible.

When I do the One Minute drill on the MT trainee, I dial my stroke pace down and I go slower than I normally would. Why? Because for relaxation, it’s been my experience that one slow relaxing stroke blows away ten fast strokes. During the exercise, I may only get a couple of strokes in from foot to ischium—but you better believe those strokes are relaxing.

Search to Stay Engaged

Losing focus with your fingers can also happen when making a location transition. Again, the thought of having to get somewhere—I need to get to the traps to do the detail work—sometimes overrides the importance of keeping the stroke relaxing.

But when your fingers (or whichever body part you’re using to do the massage) are engaged you won’t lose focus and the client will probably relax even more. For one, engaged fingers are sensors and will warn you when a pressure adjustment is needed. Also, engaged fingers demonstrate that you care about what you’re doing. This helps build therapeutic rapport which can further help the client relax.

Body Part Transitions

Body part transitions, changing how you apply pressure, like palms to thumbs, can seem intimidating, especially when it’s done in the middle of the stroke. And sometimes an MT will overuse a body part because he’s simply not comfortable transitioning to another body part.

But transitioning between body parts is not difficult, if you keep this in mind:

Keep body part #1 on the client while you’re putting body part #2 on the client.

For example, if you’re using your right thumb to glide and want to switch to your left, keep your right thumb down until your left thumb is on the client as well. When both body parts are down, you can calibrate pressure–make sure your right and left thumbs are exerting the same pressure. You will also maintain constant contact with your client by always having a hand on the client. Constant contact is relaxing and reassuring.

For deep pressure, combining body parts (e.g. two fists side-by-side) will save your hands. Switching between combined body parts is no different than switching between single body parts–you just need to keep a hand, fist or forearm on the client at all times.

Here’s I how do it: How to Combine Body Parts to Deliver Pressure video. (In the video I refer to combined body parts as “power tools”. I no longer use the term power tools because it got confusing when I would talk about massage tools and power tools at the same time.)

In a Nutshell

Here are my 3 top picks for doing solid transitions:

1. Move your feet to put yourself in a position to exert even pressure while transitioning.
2. Keep body part #1 on the client while putting body part #2 on the client in order to maintain constant contact and even pressure when making a tool transition.
3. Slow down—even when you’re out of time. One good, slow stroke is better than 10 rushed strokes.

If you want to see transitions in video form, here they are:

1. Moving Your Feet Video 
2. How to Combine Body Parts to Deliver Pressure Video

And if you’re new to massage, you may want to check out New Therapists Can Be Good Therapists. I firmly believe you can gain years of experience in a short time if you practice the right stuff.

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