Sports Massage & Athletic Training Specialist

This course provides an overview of the theoretical principles for common massage therapy systems and manual techniques. The course discusses the historical influences from a variety of cultures in order to best understand the massage therapy industry and profession today. In addition, the course overviews selected major cautions and contraindications for giving massage, as well as the effects and benefits of proper massage therapy treatments in an athletic context. The course prepares students with fundamental knowledge about sanitation, and creating an appropriate environment to perform massage therapy services with ethical and professional boundaries. The course also serves to introduce both the theoretical basis as well as the demonstration of fundamental manual techniques in the traditional discipline of Western Massage (i.e. Swedish massage), and the contemporary systems of Myofascial Massage, Trigger Point Therapy, and Reflexology.

This course also overviews anatomy and physiology, and human pathology in order to understand all the inner working of the human body, how you think about the human body as a health care professional, how you communicate to colleagues and clients respectively about their bodies, and prepares you for continued studies for the applications of massage therapy.
The course discusses each body system in terms of the major anatomical structures and functions and explains how each system participates in homeostasis of the body. In addition, the course discusses selected major pathologies, including disease definitions and causes, signs and symptoms, diagnostic procedures, and possible treatments. Finally, the course discusses common issues and changes that occur in each body system throughout the lifespan.
This course also provides students with the fundamental concepts and applications of kinesiology for massage practice. The class covers basic kinesiology principles as they apply to musculoskeletal anatomy and neuromuscular physiology. It emphasizes practical applications for hands-on practice, biomechanics applications for activities of daily living, and whole-body patterns in posture and gait. Students will practice applying kinesiology principles to therapeutic massage methods through a number of experiential exercises designed to keep the students engaged and help them learn through the body as well as the mind.

At the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Comprehend foundational knowledge for understanding and applying massage therapy.
• Gain insight into the philosophical and historical background of massage therapy.
• Explain the effects and benefits of massage.
• Understand clinical applications of massage.
• Explain contraindications and endangerment sites common to massage therapy practice.
• Understand general guidelines for giving massage including hygiene, setting up the physical environment, and elements of performance.
• Define the therapeutic relationship and basic ethical principles as they apply to the massage therapy profession.
• Understand the principles, and explain the common massage techniques used in Western Massage Therapy.
• Understand the principles of joint range of motion and explain the various techniques used to optimize joint mobility and range of motion.
• Understand the principles of Myofascial Massage and explain the basic manual techniques used to treat the myofascial system.
• Understand the basic physiology of trigger points, and explain the manual techniques used to treat trigger points as a massage therapist.
• Understand the principles of Reflexology and explain the basic techniques used to treat the various systems of the body with the application of manual reflexology methods.
• Describe the organization of the human body
• Define and differentiate Anatomy, Physiology, Kinesiology, and Pathology.
• Understand the basic knowledge of the major body systems: muscular system, skeletal system, and nervous system.
• Explain the contribution that each major body system makes to homeostasis of the body
• Identify the major anatomical structures and the purposes of each major body system
• Explain basic physiological processes in each of the major body systems
• Describe selected human diseases in terms of definition, cause, signs and symptoms, diagnostic procedures, and possible treatments for each of the body systems
• Describe common issues or changes that occur in each major body system throughout the lifespan
• Define introductory kinesiology terms and concepts and relate to manual therapy.
• Identify skeletal and joint structures, functions, concepts, and alignment principles.
• Identify types of joint motion and concepts related to joint motion in manual therapy.
• Identify muscular structures, functions, and concepts. Relate to muscle balance/imbalance, body patterns, and manual therapy applications.
• Describe NM structures and functions. Describe theory and steps in basic NM therapies.
• Define introductory biomechanical concepts and relate to body-use patterns, manual therapy, and body mechanics.
• List and define components of ideal and faulty postures. Describe applications of postural assessment to manual therapy treatments and body mechanics.
• Describe components of gait. Relate to pattern recognition and body mechanics.
• Identify and differentiate tissue layers.
• Demonstrate the palpation of tissue layers and describe the quality of touch for each layer.
• Identify bony landmarks, origins and insertions, and action of skeletal muscles covered in class.
• Demonstrate the palpation of bony landmarks and skeletal muscles covered in class.
• Demonstrate knowledge of what joint actions each muscle generates.