Category — Sports Massage Team

Waking up before dawn isn’t always the easiest thing to do… but when it’s for a Sports Team Event like the Oakland Running Festival, you can be sure that the day ahead will be full of excitement.

Some National Holistic Institute students were so eager that they beat the instructors to the site.  While dark clouds filled the sky, the students’ spirits remained bright.  As we began setting up the tent prepared for the team, we knew there wasn’t going to be enough room. The Emeryville campus and Sabrina Italia even came prepared with two additional tents – still, there were at least 8 tables that were left to brave the elements.

Before the event began, Curtis Hisao led our crew in a briefing to lay out our expectations for the day and of course… took some group pictures!  One of the Emeryville Team, one of the San Jose Team and the all inclusive team picture.  (You can see the sun trying its best to come out to greet us)

Over 9,000 people participated in the Running Festival this year and as the students can attest, the runners came in tsunami-sized waves to the massage tent.  First the 5K and 10K runners were treated to the bodywork… then after a 45 minute pause in the action, the Half and Full Marathoners came crashing down on the massage tent. With support from Dr. Jessica Greaux and InnerSport Chiropractic, the team completed over 450 complimentary massage sessions, including one special session for a national spokes…gecko???

The NHI Team enjoyed their 3^rd year supporting the efforts of The Oakland Running Festival and with the continued growth of the event, it appears to have a bright and exciting future ahead.

To connect with the NHI Sports Massage Team, visit our Sports Massage Facebook Page, or learn more about the Team on our website!

National Holistic Institute is proud to announce our partnership with the San Jose Sabercats Arena Football Team!  NHI sports massage students will be connecting with the athletes on the Sabercats team to provide post-game sports massage!

According to a recent article in the New York Times, post-exercise massage provides real medical benefits to athletes by reducing inflammation and increasing mitochondria which help rebuild and repair the cells in our muscles.  With sports massage being a hot item of interest in massage, and more teams realizing the value and benefits of body work for their players, this provides an outstanding opportunity for our students interested in this field.

Their season started in this month with the first official game in March, and continuing through July 2012.  Students arrive at the facility in Sunnyvale, where they perform 15-30 minute massages – post event style – under the supervision of David Kobata, the Sabercats’ athletic trainer.

When asked what he looks for in prospective externs, David states he looks for students who are genuinely interested in sports massage and who really know their kinesiology and are confident in their abilities.   They MUST also be on time and dependable.  Students are welcome to hand out business cards to the players, making it a beneficial opportunity for those looking to create a thriving private practice.  Obviously this will also look great on a resume and give our students real-life bodywork training in addition t0 the clinic where they practice in school.

David works with a number of different professional and semi professional sports organizations and said he has heard many good things about NHI.  We hope that the school’s connection with David may lead to other opportunities and events for the National Holistic Institute Sports Massage Team.

Before sunrise on a crisp San Francisco morning, 109 students representing all six campuses of the National Holistic Institute were busy setting up the massage tent with 80 massage tables at the Finish Line Village at the Nike Women’s Marathon.

This year marked the eighth year for the event that draws over 22,000 runners from around the world to the half and full marathon.  The course is filled with steep climbs and beautiful views of the city and the Bay.  The finishers of the race are rewarded with Tiffany necklaces and post-race massages.  Kaiser Permanente, a major sponsor of the Nike Women’s Marathon, contracted The NHI Sports Team to provide these post-race massages.

By 9:00, the massage tables are littered with runners and student therapists working to relax and stretch strained muscles. When the last runner was escorted off of her massage table at 2:15, the NHI Sports Team had performed collectively over 1700 massages.

The students were joined by seven instructors from the various campus, Beth McNeill (SJ), Kristine TenBrink (SJ), Curtis Hisao (SJ), Mark Nielson (PE/EM), Lucas Nevarez (SAC), Phil Okazaki (SJ), and Gabriel Posner (SF/EM) and 15 Teaching Assistants who supported the students by coaching bodywork, issuing and managing breaks and injuries.  The San Jose Campus Student Services and Career Life Coordinator, Chris Pavao acted as Master of Ceremonies directing the line and finding open massage tables for the athletes.  The average wait time was a mere 15 minutes.

The NHI Sports Massage Team prepped for this event by holding sports-specific training sessions where students learned about the marathon, athlete training plans, common injuries and massage techniques.  While it was a mild morning in the city, the team was equipped with skills to combat thermal injuries.

The calm before the storm

The student therapists had fun, worked hard and finished the day with a sense of accomplishment.  They each provided at least 15 massages through out the day, more clients than they see in a regular week.  Emily Luckett from On Board, who is the event planner for the Nike Women’s Marathon, “Thanks for all of your hard work, NHI!  Everything seemed to be managed very smoothly.  We appreciate your efforts!”

In response from the post-event report given by NHI Staff lead, Beth McNeill, Curshanda Woods from Kaiser Permanente had this to say, “Thank you, NHI.  Great job, Beth!  Everything looked great.”  The NHI Sports Massage Team ended the day taking a group picture and a group WHOOSH!  Kudos to NHI and to the students participating in the Sports Team.

The Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon was last weekend, and NHI was there to support the runners, have a good time and get some great experience doing sports massage. Due to lots of traveling lately I didn’t get a good of a jump start on recruiting for this event, and I was afraid that the event might be a struggle, or be unsuccessful, but as it turned out everything & everyone associated with being there was just superb!

The Team Challenge organization that we were there to serve was offered quick 10 minute massages, but they really made a difference and the team was so thankful. There were 500 runners at this event, and we worked on more then 300 of them! 13 massage therapists and three hundred clients. WOW!

It was a great day, but the best part was listening to students who had their table set up closest to me. They talked about how excited they were to be in school learning so much. It recharged my battery, my hope, my excitement about teaching & confidence that things will work out.

From time to time I noticed one or two other students copying exactly what I was doing; techniques that they had not yet been taught in class. They were clearly in learning mode despite the circumstances of working  non-stop on sweaty tired bodies; the athletes lined up for 20 or more minutes to get 10 minutes of free massage. Just 10 minutes of massage can make such a difference!

These events are so inspiring! We get to put our knowledge into action and help athletes. We work together as a team and the bond that results is tremendous. Students learn new techniques, build their confidence and make connections that are invaluable as they begin their careers as professional massage therapists.

But most of all, I get to help people have work they love through doing work that I love! Wow!

~Mark Nielsen

For updates on where our Sports Massage Team will be healing next, check out our NHI Sports Massage Facebook Page!

Now that our volunteers have dried out from the record rain fall, here’s a student’s first-hand account of this year’s L.A. Marathon…

On March 20th, over 50 current and former NHI students braved the cold, wet, and windy conditions at the 2011 LA Marathon. As predicted, the weather bombarded runners and volunteers, who had to deal with the elements from mother earth.

For both new and veteran volunteers, we were in for one wild ride. The many surprises which we encountered did not deter us from ultimately giving the gift of massage to the thousands of participants who sweated out the 26.2 mile endeavor from Los Angeles to Santa Monica Pier. A number of runners tumbled towards our massage tent, hungry and tired, but mostly elated that they had finished and looked forward to a massage provided by us. We were positioned into teams of 2-3 massage therapists at each table, assisting runners in drying off and warming up. Many runners experienced hypothermia-like symptoms, but with the experience of the faculty who were present, led by Joe Bob Smith, Jan Takeshita, and Marianna Anderson, and the quick hands of the massage therapists, the runners were able to get back on their feet and into some dry clothes.

Although we were blasted with random gusts of wind blowing through the tent, a river of water that flowed ankle deep, and even a little bit of hail, the day turned out to be a huge success. Runners were extremely appreciative of the support provided by the massage volunteers, and we were happy to provide a little bit of warmth and care to each runner that passed through. Despite harsh conditions that started the day off as a challenge, we ended with plenty of smiles, laughter, and many memories. Here’s to another successful volunteer event at the LA Marathon. Until next year…

Because the record rainfall disrupted marathon operations, our volunteers this year didn’t receive the usual volunteer shirt or even lunch. To thank everyone for their hard work, NHI hosted a pizza and movie night on April 15 as a sign of gratitude. L.A. Marathon Coordinator, Steve Jackson, showed up with a stash of marathon shirts he had scored for everyone, thank you letters, and prizes commemorating marathons past. Everyone had a great time reminiscing about the rain, the runners, and the hypothermia!

In our continued efforts to give back to the community that supports our students and graduates, the National Holistic Institute is proud to share the success of our Sports Massage Team.  Sports Massage is a growing profession that focuses on the application of a variety of massage techniques and stretching exercises to enhance athletic performance. The NHI Sports Massage Team was formed in response to student requests to provide massage therapy for the community. The team is run on a volunteer basis, and all massages given to the community by NHI students at sponsored events are free of charge.  If the event is for a charity, all student tips go back to the charity sponsor!

In 2010, we were active in 40 Outreach Events throughout California.  Over 300 students and graduates were trained in sport-specific sports massage and volunteered their time and skills at these events to perform over 8,000 complimentary massages!  We are proud to have developed relationships with amazing organizations such as Diabetes Foundation, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Team In Training, MS Society, Best Buddy International, and the American Heart Association.  We would like to thank them for their support and all of the positive work that they do.

In 2010, the team also touched smaller populations such the Native American Indian population at an annual Pow-Wow; a family whose daughter was critically injured in a car accident and a local rotary club who was raising money to fight diabetes.   Our program has been extremely successful and this has shown through high praise that students have received from event coordinators like Tri-Cal, Finishline Productions, Avanti Sports, LA Marathon and Kaiser Permanente, to name a few.  The students developed a supportive, proactive team and succeed in promoting the benefits of massage.

The Sports Massage Team not only benefits the public, but the students who volunteer are exposed to new and exciting situations that are only possible in real-life experiences.  They are exposed to a high volume of clients for an extended period of time and learn how to work together in a setting that many students have never been a part of.  Many students took it as a chance to look at their own fitness and began training for similar events and becoming involved in some of the charities that they had been benefitting. They also gained an understanding of how their participation in sporting and charity events can help them develop their careers as Massage Therapists and how important community outreach work is to their personal as well as professional lives.  We hope to be even more active and work with more wonderful organizations in 2011!

To learn more about the NHI Sports Massage Team visit our Facebook pages:
NHI San Jose Sports Massage Team
NHI North Bay Sports Massage Team

This past week, National Holistic Institute’s own Mark Nielsen conducted an in-depth workshop on Sports Massage for Therapists at the Ritz Carlton Spa at Half Moon Bay.  Rianon Cepriano, the Spa Therapy Supervisor at the Ritz, was extremely grateful to Mark for expanding her staff’s professional skill set. She said of the workshop,

“…the attendees were not only impressed with the [Read more →]

Waking up at 3:00am to be ready for this year’s 25^th Anniversary Los Angeles Marathon seemed impossible.  However, over 30 student and graduate therapists from National Holistic Institute were pumped up and ready to go!  A few arrived earlier than staff!

This was the inaugural year of the Marathon’s route starting at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier.  Massaging runners at the beach – how cool!  It was optimally temperate marathon-running weather, with the fog never quite dissipating at the beach.  We warmed up quickly though as the runners started finishing and the line lengthened.  Despite what seemed like a never-ending queue, the NHI therapists worked tirelessly and with few breaks so that no runner had to wait longer than 15 minutes to receive our much needed touch.

As in years past, our students were chosen to [Read more →]

With 15 events and counting in 2009, the National Holistic Institute’s San Jose Sports Massage Team looks forward to 2010 with 7 events already planned.

A whopping 140 students participated in a wide range of events including the AFM motorcycle endurance ride, I Care Classic cycling tour, Forest of Nisene Marks Trail Run, Tour de [Read more →]

National Holistic Institute teacher Lucas Nevarez coordinated our largest volunteer sports massage event so far this year.  Here is his report from the field.

The NHI Sports Massage Team at the 2009 Nike Women’s Marathon did a fantastic job!  Over 110 students, graduates, and staff from all 4 Northern California campuses came together to provide over 1,350 massages to these exhausted runners.   

It was a success by many measures – [Read more →]

NHI Student William King

Generally, the National Holistic Institute Sports Massage Team doesn’t travel so far for an event, but this one was too good to pass up.  The Best Buddies Challenge at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA, promised to have the energy of a big family gathering – as participants, sponsors and notable guests celebrated and raised funds for people with intellectual disabilities.  It didn’t disappoint!

The NHI students joined others to create a team of 31 massage therapists.  They provided 465 15-minute massage to cyclists in 100-, 62-, 35- and 15-mile bike rides as well as 3k walkers and 5k runners.  Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis and [Read more →]

Huge thanks to National Holistic Institute Group #30 Senior and NHI Sports Team member Bar Houston for contributing this story…

Pacific Grove Triathlon was another great success! Thanks to NHI teacher Conrad Santos and the nine NHI massage therapists that made the drive to Pacific Grove.

The massage tables and chair arrived in the fog about 6:15am in time to find a decent parking place, but not in time to get into the vendor area. With the help of some high school volunteers and Group 31 MTs, we managed to get 8 tables, 1 massage chair and all the supplies the quarter mile down to our two pop-up tents. Kate and Lynn were our contacts at the event and were very helpful in arranging for a table and access to the Hospitality Tent for breakfast. By 8:00am everyone had arrived, event T-shirts were passed out, and we reviewed the do’s and don’ts for post-event massage. The radio was in place and Anastacio had a perfect radio station setting the pace and we were off to breakfast. [Read more →]

Eight members of National Holistic Institute’s San Jose Campus Sports Massage Team donated their time and talents to raise $500 for the American Cancer Society by providing massage therapy for the participants of the Los Gatos Relay for Life.  The NHI students worked from dawn to dusk providing relief for achy lower backs and knotted calves.  Relay For Life can be considered the American Cancer Society’s signature activity. They are overnight events and can last up to 24 hours in length.  The event in Los Gatos was held at the track at Rolling Meadows Middle School.  The NHI Sports Massage Team offered $1/minute massages throughout the day and by 8:00 pm had collected a considerable donation to a great cause.

Sunday, March 8^th, was a beautiful day in Menlo Park!  Nineteen members of the National Holistic Institute Sports Team worked on 137 cyclists under the supervision of instructors Beth McNeill and Mark Nielsen at the Tri-Flow Grand Prix sponsored by the Velo Girls.

Students from NHI Groups 30, 31, 32, & 37 had taken part in a training on pre- and post-event massage for cyclists and were ready to work.  By about 10:15, the finishers of the first race made their way to the tables. The Sports Team worked on cyclists in each of the ten races.  The last cyclist was off the table around 5:00.

This was the first time massage was present at the Tri Flow Grand Prix and the cyclists were excited to see the NHI banner.  They were very gracious as well – the team earned $245 in tips!  This was a great first outing for the NHI Sports Team in 2009.

Thanks, Beth & Mark, for contributing this story and photos.

Over 100 NHI students, staff, and graduates massaged at the 2009 Nike Women’s Marathon.  The marathon raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Our Sports Massage Team gave over 1,000 massages on race day and another 1,200 massages during the accompanying 3-day Expo.  Runners appreciated the work and our students received valuable experience.  Big thanks to the NHI staffers who made this happen: Lucas, Beth, Al, Jenna, Laura, Conrad, Jaime, and the many others who contributed throughout.  As an added bonus, all volunteers took home a free pair of Nike shoes!

San Jose teacher Beth McNeill reports from the field.

On Saturday morning, five students from the San Jose campus and I drove up to Napa to provide chair massage for the riders of the 4-hour Endurance Ride hosted by the American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM).  A student from Group 32 arranged the event through the president of the AFM.  She was also instrumental in bringing the riders and vendors and cornerworkers to the massage area.

We provided chair massage at the massage area, at the timing area and in the pits.  The students felt very prepared to work on the riders after attending a sports massage training focusing on the specific needs of a motorcyclist.  They all did great work throughout the day.  The riders loved having on-site massage and the President of AFM has asked us (NHI) to think about coming back for more events next season.

We all had a great deal of fun.  It was a wonderful to spend Saturday with this crew!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then here are 199,000 words!

After Wednesday’s blog about the SF Marathon, several participants emailed wanting to see more than the one lone picture of the tent I posted.  So, thanks to Marz Jaffe’s efforts, here’s a link to 199 more pictures…

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29680023@N03/

 As any good marathoner would say, “Pace yourself!”

If you compete at a sporting event in San Francisco or Los Angeles, you may have experienced a massage by some of our students or alumni.  We volunteer many hours to these great causes.  Last month was one of the largest – the San Francisco Marathon – where we were proud once again to be recognized as the official massage therapists.

It was a successful event by every measure!  Much gratitude goes out to Lucas Nevarez for coordinating this operation and providing us with the follow-up report.

We had 103 volunteers, 80 tables, and massaged approximately 1200 runners in just a few short hours. The students did an amazing job, taking care of many strained, overworked, and often cramping muscles. NHI was well received and appreciated by these aching athletes.  

San Francisco Marathon NHI Massage Tent

Something this size doesn’t happen without a lot of help.  Well-deserved shout-outs go to Nick Lanoza, Beth McNeill, Conrad Santos, Jaime Montenegro, Shoshana Friedens, Giselle Griffin, and Marz Jaffe.  Also, thanks to the staff and teachers who helped pump up the anticipation and excitement.

Being a part of a multi-campus, 100+ person “Whoosh!” is enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine!

Happy 1st week!  By coincidence, this blog began one week ago on the same lucky day as the Olympics in Beijing – 08/08/08.  But then, many would say there are no coincidences.  Massage and sports have a long, beneficial history together.  In fact, some of our graduates have massaged at Olympics past, but I haven’t heard if any are in China currently.  Still, if you’d like to hear about what it’s like to be at the Olympics from a massage therapist’s point-of-view, Massage Magazine has a blog on that subject going now.  Click here to read all about it.