In the construction industry, toughness, strength, and grit reign supreme. You’re on the job site every day, lifting, carrying, and pushing yourself to the limit. And at the end of your shift, you feel every bit of that labor in your bones—and your lower back, your hands, and that stubborn knot between your shoulder blades that only seems to get worse every week.
Have you ever found yourself wishing there was a way to get rid of that tension?
If only there was a process through which your aching muscles could be kneaded and that knot could finally be released! Imagine if there were professionals trained and certified to do just that, and whole clinics set up to facilitate their work.
Well, keep dreamin’ bud. Things like massages don’t exist for you because you’re a man. A tough man! A construction man. No, you wouldn’t be caught dead getting a massage. They’re just a little “gay,” you know? All that touching and rubbing…and the oil! Just a tad bit too fruity.
Who cares that massages can relieve muscle tension, improve circulation, reduce pain, and help you perform at your best? You’ve got a pretty fantastic system already: taking Advil like Tictacs, chasing them with an energy drink, and complaining about your lower back to anyone who will listen. It’s worked for years, why change it now?
(Has it worked, though? Has it, really?)
Who wants to be pampered anyway? Soft towels, low lighting, gentle music? No, thank you. Relaxing for an hour under a warm blanket while someone who has trained for thousands of hours works to identify, treat, and relieve your every ache and pain (even the ones you didn’t know you had?) sounds terrible!
What if the guys found out? How could you ever live that down? What’s next: They find out you go to the dentist?!
Sure, getting a massage isn’t always a walk in the park. In deep tissue massage, the therapist uses their hands, forearms, and sometimes even their elbows to dig deep into the inner layers of muscle to release the kind of tight spots that have been bugging you forever. A good massage can sometimes even leave you feeling as sore as a workout. Surely you’ve got to be tough to endure that kind of pressure?
But wait, what if your massage therapist is a dude?!
You see your buddies half-naked in the locker room all the time, but this is different. And, of course, you know that all registered massage therapists are trained to treat their clients respectfully and prohibited from crossing professional boundaries, but still. The chance of getting a male massage therapist with all that extra strength to get right into your joints and treat your painful injuries is just too high. Fat chance!
You don’t need a massage. You can tough it out. The problem won’t get worse at all. It’ll probably just disappear one day. It hasn’t happened yet, but that doesn’t mean it won’t!
(Seriously, dude, what are you waiting for? Don’t let outdated ideas prevent you from taking care of yourself. Get the massage. It will feel absolutely incredible, and you’ll wonder why you waited so long. You can thank us later.)
