People choose careers based on various criteria. Some go by what inspires them based on their life experiences and that is perhaps one of the ways to make it count. Jorg Patzer has taken the road to become a registered massage therapist (RMT) after he had considerable experience with it as an athlete. ‘I have been an athlete and have enjoyed massage therapy the most,’ says Patzer. It seemed like a logical progression, with some side notes.
Passion has to be there, he emphasizes, but this kind of work has to appeal to your personality too. ‘I love working independently, and my wish was to stay connected to sports,’ Patzer adds. The element that brings it all together, a must in this profession one could say, is to enjoy connecting with people and helping them. ‘It sounds cliché, but I love making a difference in people’s lives,’ Patzer says. He should know; after all, he has been on both sides.
An accomplished professional athlete in his native Switzerland, Patzer followed his heart, and many training hours later, he became a registered massage therapist. Why Canada, you may wonder. That was another way Patzer followed his heart. ‘It’s because of a girl,’ he laughs.
The path of a massage therapist is one of great satisfaction, but the profession takes a lot out of you, because of the wear and tear, Patzer explains. While he is planning to keep at it for as long as possible, he knows he has to do what it takes to make it happen. Few people may know this, he says, but when you are a massage therapist, your joints work very hard and they need therapy of their own. Which is why Patzer relies on other therapists, colleagues he’s connected to while training together, to keep him ready for the job.
While many are familiar with the profession, few know that massage therapists have a well-rounded education given the many aspects of the job, from understanding the human body, to understanding movement and how it affects muscles and joints, to applying massage therapy that helps relieve muscle tension and facilitate optimal levels of performance.
The ultimate goal of massage therapy should be, in Patzer’s opinion, injury prevention, as a lot of people go to see an RMT after they suffered some form of injury, he says. Sports, whether performed at a professional or amateur level, are much more enjoyable when injury does not throw you out of the game. A registered massage therapist can help with that.
Tags: injury prevention, massage therapy, RMT
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