Getting Stronger as a Massage Therapist
Updated: May 19
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As a massage therapist, a good way to combat burn out and have more stamina as a therapist would be conditioning your body (according to "Massage is Weird" by Ian Harvey"). Although any form of physical activity is incredibly helpful, a popular way of gaining strength, would be weight training. Here are the insiteful experiances from some of the strongest people I know.
James Burns (Weight Training Club President (2025-2026),
Background:
Burns is 17 years old (2026), and he has been weight lifting since 9th grade (11th grade currently). He was selected for this project because of his incredible discipline to achieve his goal of becoming stronger. He describes below not having a lot of muscle in comparison to his peers, but over the years he has worked his way up to being one of the strongest students in our weight lifting classroom. Additionally, he was weight lifting club president (2025-2026).
His Story:
The reason I started weight lifting was to stop being skinny. I was pretty weak, and I wanted to exercise more. In-spite of an initial fear of judgement from my peers, and difficulty being consistent, I found reasons to keep going. What stops fear of judgement, is realizing that people start from anywhere in their fitness journey, and I have noticed others persevere even if they started out weaker than I am. [for context, when James was beginning his fitness journey, he struggled to bench-press 65 lbs (10 lbs on each side, including the barbell) and shoulder-press 40 lbs (20 lbs each arm).]As for consistency, since I wasn’t consistent, I saw myself losing progress – this allowed me to understand my passion for weight lifting, and how it was capable of over-powering my internal thoughts to not exercise. Someone who is naturally really strong would probably have a different experience than me. I think I have developed a strong resilience and it has for sure made me a lot more confident because of where I started. Tips I would give to a person who is still starting out in their fitness journey, would be to not have fear of asking for help (ie. asking a person to spot you), being consistent, not doubting yourself no-matter what, and even if you can’t lift a certain amount of weight –just know that it will be possible eventually if you keep going. I also advise observing what others are doing in order to strategize how to get to their level of fitness. To combat soreness while continuing to work out, I also recommend working out areas where you are not sore, retain proper form, or if it is an area you still want to exercise, just go light on any weights/exercise for that area.
When I first started doing push ups/pull ups (a challenge where James does as many push ups/pull ups he can in the span of an hour) I was motivated by another classmate. This meant doing what I thought I was capable of, and taking it to another level. It has benefitted me personally, because I was able to do more push ups, but what surprised me was the way that it helped my mental state as well. Being able to push myself to my limits really helped me recognize my strength, and was significantly more fulfilling than just doing a simple workout and quitting while knowing I could have pushed myself harder. I recommend this form of exercising for anyone who is interested in calisthenics at first, and secondarily weight lifting. Only do this if you aspire to challenge yourself, and keep in mind you are likely to have a few days of soreness.
Kevin De La Cruz (Weight Training Club President 2024-2025), (Top-5 Class Leaderboard x3)
Background:
De La Cruz is 17 years old(2026) and began weight lifting around 3 years ago (12th grade currently). He was chosen for this project because of his status as weight lifting club president (2024-2025), and incredible consistency throughout the years. Additionally, he was consistently on the top-5 class leaderboard in 3 separate categories.
His Story:
I started weight lifting because I wanted to be strong. When I started working out, I couldn’t do a pull up, I could barely do a push up, and I was quite weak. I have gotten a lot stronger since I started working out, and it has brought me a lot more confidence. I have been weight lifting for roughly 3 years (17 currently) A muscle up. (A Muscle up is doing a pull up, but you are putting your body over the bar as well). I would like to do a one arm pull up (currently at a one arm pull up without assistance). At the start, in order to improve the frequency of my workouts, I started out with very small workouts. On days where I didn’t want to work out, I would make it very easy (ie. 5 push ups). Consistency has been 3x a week. The advice I would give to a person just starting out in weight lifting, would be lowering your expectations. Consistency matters more than the work/intensity you put into your workout.
GianCarlo Torres (Top-5 Class Leaderboard)
Background:
Torres is 17-years-old (2026), and has been weight lifting for the past 8 months (12th grade currently). He was chosen for this project because of his incredible hard-work ethic in the classroom setting, and ability to push past his own self-limits. In-spite of the lack of free time in his personal life, he found it important to create opportunities for physical fit.
His Story:
I started weight lifting around 8 months ago, and I joined this class because I thought it would give me more stamina at work (in a restaurant), and because weight lifting with friends gives me more motivation to get stronger. One thing I am the most proud of, would be making it onto the top-five leaderboard for the class (3/5 for the lunge category ~120 lbs). A fitness level I want to get to is being able to run with a weighted plate, and having the consistency to maintain my strength. I want to master all aspects of weight lifting. What has helped me with consistency, is weight lifting with friends, because we are all working towards the same goals.
Alana-Jain Feder (1/24 Females in Weight Training Class)
Background:
Feder is 17-years-old (2026), and has been weight lifting for the past 8 months (11th grade currently). She is participating in this section of the project as a way of sharing her experiences and reasons for weight lifting. As the only female in her class of 24, she has shown perseverance and has been given significant motivation to succeed because of this fact. As she learns from her male-counterparts, it has made her both a better/more consistent weight lifter, and overall more well-rounded person.
Her Story:
I started weight lifting roughly 8 months ago, and I joined because I thought it would make me a better massage therapist because of the incredible physical fitness levels needed in order to sustain the career. Having the condition to handle the strain of the profession would be very helpful. The challenge I am the most proud of overcoming would be my ability to do an overhead-press with 25lbs dumbbells, and for anytime I could keep up with the other students in my class. A fitness level I would love to get to would be doing an overhead-press with 30lbs, and to be able to do a pull-up. What has helped me with consistency, is remembering my reason ‘why’ for weight lifting, and the overall goals I am working towards. I am likely to feel better the rest of the day after a good workout, and it brings me so much fulfillment when I know I am doing my best regardless of if I made visual progress. The advice I would give to a person starting out in weight lifting, would be to not put so much pressure on yourself to be sore, and that diet/sleep have an effect on your performance too.
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