Massage Therapy and Pilates as Complementary Treatments in Marlboro NJ

Ken Endelman, owner of Balanced Body – the largest manufacturer of Pilates and Gyrotonic equipment in the US – writes on the complementary benefits of massage therapy and Pilates for clients and therapists alike. This should be explored by therapeutic massage enthusiasts, massage therapists, Pilates enthusiasts and Pilates instructors in Marlboro NJ, including Monmouth County, Englishtown, Manalapan, Morganville, Old Bridge, Freehold, Howell, Millstone, Matawan, Aberdeen, and Colts Neck. If you have been enjoying Swedish massage therapy, deep tissue massage therapy, sports massage therapy and reflexology massage therapy in a massage spa in Marlboro NJ, think of how much more benefits you can gain with additional Pilates sessions.
Endelman quotes Linda Burquez, who is both a certified massage therapist and a certified Pilates trainer, as saying, “Integrating Pilates and massage can have a profound effect in helping clients achieve a stronger, relaxed and balanced body.”
According to Endelman, massage therapy and Pilates have similar beneficial effects on the body. They both improve blood circulation in order to better distribute nutrients and oxygen to muscles, internal organs and bones for proper functioning. They both decrease muscle tension and stiffness by increasing flexibility and range of motion. The stronger and more flexible muscles, in turn, also restore balance and proper alignment of the entire body.
Endelman says massage therapy and Pilates have different ways of treating the body and can, therefore, be used to complement each other in eliminating chronic tension and chronic pain. Angela Crowley, another certified massage therapist and certified Pilates trainer, agrees, saying, “The massage and Pilates systems really work well hand-in-hand to strengthen muscles and release tension. For example, a lot of people have very tight neck and shoulder muscles. Those people typically have weak upper back muscles that support the shoulder blades. Pilates training strengthens the upper back muscles, creating a counter balance that allows the neck and shoulder muscles to relax.” Burquez concurs, “When assessing a client, I pay close attention to the opposing muscle groups. One may be tight, while the other is weak. Pilates strengthens the weak muscles, and massage releases tension in the areas that are tight.”
Crowley further illustrates how massage therapy and Pilates can work together. She says many of her clients return again and again with the same tension points in their bodies even after she had previously released them in massage therapy sessions. She realized this was because those clients continued to use their bodies the wrong way, thereby continually holding tension in the same muscles. She then started to give her massage therapy clients Pilates sessions, too, in order to teach them proper body posture.
Tom Bowthorpe, also a certified massage therapist and certified Pilates trainer, loosens the stiff muscles of his clients with massage therapy and increases their range of motion with Pilates, always ending each session by going back to massage. “My clients love the combination,” he says. “They really like the aspects of getting a full workout session and then ending it with a massage to relax the muscles they just worked. They leave feeling really good. “
Massage therapists themselves will benefit from Pilates training while Pilates instructors will benefit from undergoing massage themselves.
Giving a massage can be very physically demanding and massage therapists often experience aches and pains from their own overused muscles. Pilates teaches them how to move more efficiently using core muscle groups. Burquez was a full time massage therapist before she learned Pilates. She says, “I found that implementing Pilates techniques made giving a massage more effortless, and I didn’t feel as tense at the end of the day.”