Why Aren’t You Using Your Fists?

Need a deep pressure substitute for a forearm?

Try fists.

I did, Mark, but fists didn’t work for me.

Yeah, at first that was my experience, too.

Then I did this: Set my table height for fists not forearms. (In other words, I lowered my table.)

When I set my table for fists instead of forearms I was able to transfer my body weight into the client for deep pressure—and it was smooth sailing.

Well, almost smooth sailing. I still needed to get good at transitions between forearms and fists.

This was accomplished by taking a wider stance for forearms and a narrower stance for fists.

So, to use fists as a deep pressure substitute for forearms, I just needed to 1. set my table height for fists (lower) and 2. get competent at transitioning between forearms and fists by using a wide stance for forearms and a narrow stance for fists.

Sounds like a lot of work, Mark, maybe I’ll just stick with forearms.

Hey, you might be able to get away with using only forearms for the rest of your massage career, BUT if…

1. Your shoulder(s) hurts.
2. You have cubital tunnel syndrome.
3. Your forearm is too big to get the job done.
4. The person getting the massage doesn’t like the feeling of a forearm.
5. You don’t feel comfortable using a forearm.

…you’re going to want a deep pressure substitute for forearms.

Think fists.

Deep Pressure Substitute Mini-Tutorial

Enough talk about fists as a deep pressure substitute for forearms. Let’s make this happen.

In this video, I first show why I think most MTs struggle with fists.

(You guessed it: The massage table is set too high.)

After I go over table height I show how to transition back and forth between forearms and fists using wide and narrow stances.

P.S. Moving between wide and narrow stances is easy when you shuffle your feet.

Want to massage pain-free using your fists and other cool techniques?

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