When we talk to partners about giving massage at home, they frequently confess that their hands get tired after a few minutes. Massage Stamina is a thing.
Understandable. And understandably disappointing to the partner receiving the massage.
Yes, the more massage the give, the more you condition your hands and muscles and develop stamina. HOWEVER, what really helps more is this: change the way you are using your hands.
1. Relax your hands. In massage, we actually don't use our hand muscles as much as you'd think. Your hands are delivering the massage for sure, but the movement and the pressure come from our shoulders and leveraging our bodyweight. It takes a little practice to turn off those overworked hand muscles, but it will dramatically increase the your stamina AND deliver a much yummier massage.
2. Slow it down. Slower massages are better massages, anyway. AND you'll be able to keep your hands more relaxed.
3. Take a secret break ... without interrupting the massage. There are lots of ways to touch -- including just holding, using your feet, gently rocking, using your soft fist or elbow.
Oh, ya, we usually recommending minimizing what I call the "grip grip" technique. This is when you use your hand muscles to squeeze your partner’s muscles. You are going to tire fast, deliver ineffective massage and you will both be frustrated. Use your body weight to deliver pressure with your full hand, keeping your hand relaxed. Your hand is there to deliver pressure from your body weight, not to squeeze your loved one’s muscles. Save the gripping and your thumbs for the few tight spots she needs extra work on.
