As the ancient art of healing touch intertwines with modern wellness strategies, many are discovering the multifaceted benefits massage offers, not just for relaxation, but as a crucial element in overall health and recovery.

From the gentle strokes of Swedish massage to the targeted pressure of acupressure and the rejuvenating techniques of Thai and Shiatsu, we'll explore the various modalities and uncover their unique attributes.

Whether you're an athlete, fitness enthusiast, or simply someone looking to enhance your well-being, this episode sheds light on the power of massage in the realm of holistic health. So, sit back, relax, and let's embark on this hands-on journey together.

This podcast is available from most major podcast hosts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

00:00:00 Introduction

00:59:93 Newsletter alert

03:25:95 The use of massage in the Survival Fitness Plan

05:06:55 Different types of massage

05:19:20 Swedish massage

06:08:14 Hot Stone massage

07:01:72 Thai massage

08:06:77 Sports remedial massage

09:24:91 Acupressure

11:45:64 Shiatsu massage

12:14:94 Myofascial release

13:57:16 Conclusion

14:17:60 Closing

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 Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of the Survival Fitness Plan your ultimate flight and fight fitness training program. Learn how to train yourself to be a modern-day ninja. I'm Sam Fury, your host. Today we're going to talk massage, but before we get into that, I subscribe to Arnold Schwarzenegger's newsletter because he's amazing and I would, I would subscribe to Mike Tyson's newsletter as well if you had one, they're like my two.

Favorite athletes ever. If you haven't read his biography, by the way, I forget what it's called. It's got something to do with one of his movies. The title. It's really good. He's an incredible person. He's done a lot of stuff. And I also read Mike Tyson's biography as well, and that was pretty good.

Yeah. Anyway, if you want to, if you like ready biographies, go read them.

Anyway, so I was reading his newsletter, and interesting, you know all these people are like gluten-free, you might be gluten-free yourself like, and a lot of people go gluten-free because it has, they get stomach problems, right, like IBS or like bloating or whatever, and they get off gluten, and it makes them feel better.

Well, he published this thing about this medical what do you call it? Study, right? And they found that gluten's probably not the problem unless you're unless you've got celiac disease, which is only like 2 percent or 0. 2 percent or something very minor in the world's population, right? But for everyone else that thinks, oh, getting off gluten is the way to go they FODMAPS.

Was it FODMAPS?

Sorry, I'll have a quick look, and so I'm telling you the right thing, yeah, a FODMAP. If you go on a FODMAP, a low FODMAP diet, look it up on Google, cause I only just quickly had a glance at it cause it was quite interesting, I'm not, I'm not gluten-free but I thought it was pretty interesting because I know, like, you run into gluten-free people all the time, and they're missing out on like, some good tasty foods, and some healthy foods as well, a lot of healthy foods they have to cut out, but, maybe they don't. So FODMAP, also, alright, so the FODMAP, I don't know what it stands for, but it's F O D M A P. Every single one of those words is like a scientific word. So, just write in FODMAP, type in low FODMAP diet, and read up about it a little bit. And yeah, so if you're looking for it. So, but, the FODMAP diet isn't, I was reading through it, and it's not necessarily any healthier.

It might just help with your symptoms, but it does, it is recommended not to stay on that diet for too long because Because you're, you might become malnourished. Because it does like, a lot of the foods that I saw that are high in these whatever the specific thing is, right? High in FODMAPs. They're like really healthy foods.

So it's worth it, it's worth taking a look. So maybe like, you've been cutting up bread and bread does have FODMAPs in it. Like wheat has FODMAPs in it. But maybe the bigger culprit is something like Beans or whatever. And so you can change your diet a bit and whatever. So yeah, we'll see how it goes Anyway, if you're doing that go look up FODMAPS, that's alright.

 So let's get into the main subject today, which is the use of massage in Survival Fitness All right.

So Everyone knows massage is good for you. Maybe some people know Why more? Let me go over some of the benefits just off the top Lower stress, right? If you get a relaxing massage, lowers stress, that's probably the main reason a lot of Westerners initially got into massage or like, especially during the 90s or whatever, they would get a massage to lower stress, right?

It lowers your blood pressure and stuff like that. It also helps with injury recovery depending on the type of massage, right? I get a remedial massage sometimes when I get a training injury and a lot of people do that and athletes do it. It can improve your circulation which is, which is also good for obviously it's good for blood flow which is good for ya, and it can that in turn will lower inflammation which can help you recover faster and can also help, yeah, injuries, help you recover from injuries or help you just recover from training soreness in general, right?

And there's a bunch of other benefits, they're just a couple of the main ones that I, that I think, I mean, low, You say lower stress and like that leads to like better sleep and a healthier lifestyle and all this sort of stuff, right? So low blood pressure less child's Heart attacks or strokes or whatever.

So all these things are connected, but they're like the main things, right? And of course, it's good for mobility as well. So like you stretch when they massage your muscles like makes it more it's like my official, which isn't exactly a massage, but like when you get deep tissue massages, it's good for, it's good for your mobility and all that sort of stuff.

 All right. So let's go over a few types of massage and I'll just share little stories as well that I've come across or my opinions on each type of massage, right?

So the first one is arguably the most well-known or the most well, the most used in the world would be Swedish massage. I've never had a Swedish massage.

I probably, I mean, I probably have, but I can't remember any, any time where it's like stuck into my head. Oh, it's a Swedish massage, right? Swedish massage is a normal massage. It's relaxing. All that sort of stuff, right? The next one is Hot Stone. Hot Stone Massage is as far as relaxing massages go.

And it's good for therapy in a way as well when you combine it with other things, I think. But Hot Stone is quite good. So we were in Peru once. And this was more than a decade ago. And it was the very first time I had a Hot Stone Massage. And I was with my English mate. And we're getting this because we had just done Machu Picchu, right, so we're a bit sore.

 Alright, we'll get, we'll get a hot stone massage. And, and then afterward he told me this story, right, where his this little fella, fell out the side of his shorts, and then the massage person just got the little hot stone and just like, tucked it back in for him. It was a lot funnier at the time.

Anyway, so that's a hot stone massage. And most recently, I've had a few hot stone massages along the way, and most recently a couple of episodes ago, I told you that I went and got a pedicure for the very first time. And I was, I was surprised to find out that you can choose all these different types of pedicures and like they all have different types of creams and massage or whatever.

So I chose the one where it's like ends with a hot stone massage and they did a hot stone on your feet or whatever. And it was more just like, I don't know if it did anything, like it's not a proper hot stone massage, but it was nice. I do like hot stone massages as far as relaxing massages go. All right.

The next one, Thai massage is my. Favorite type of massage, unless I'm getting something specific done, and I had a Thai massage when I first got to Phoenix as well, and I hadn't had one in like, a while. Like, I think years. I used to get them all the time when I lived in the Philippines because they've got like, a famous chain, chain stores.

There's like, massage everywhere in the Philippines, and it's dirt cheap, and it's really good. But I haven't had one in a couple of lives since COVID, I don't think. Which is a shame, because I like them, so I want to get back into, you know, I used to have them at least once a week, so now I probably maybe at least once a month depending on where I am.

I think a lot of the thing is because I was living in South America for a while, and they do have massage, I don't know if they have Thai Massage, but I'll definitely be checking it out when I get there. So yeah, Thai Massage is my favorite because it includes stretching and stuff.

And yeah, it's really good for mobility and it's relaxing. Well, it's not super relaxing, it's not as relaxing as Swedish. But it can be, you can tell them to go light and light. Yeah, it's, it's good. I always feel really good after a Thai Massage.

 The next one is the sports memorial room Sports remedial massage.

This is all like scientific Western massage and it's really good, especially if you've got an injury. I did it on my arm and my upper back once in Turkey. Like I just crooked my neck. I was doing super burpees, which I don't do anymore. 'cause it's just too much pressure on the pins on the plyometrics.

But anyway, I went there a couple of times and got that it was all right. It's great for specific injuries, I think, like when I got it for my shoulder, it was it, it worked a treat. So that was good. The next one is reflexology. I love, love, love feet massages, hand massages, and face massages.

And reflexology is face and hand. They actually have reflexology points in the face as well. Sorry, not the face and foot and hand, but it's mainly the feet, right? And yeah. So the last time I got one of them was, ah, must have been, oh, five years ago. But it's just finding places to do that. When I was like, again, when I was in Asia, living around Asia, it's easy to find massages.

But living around South America, you can still find massages, but there's a lot of Swedish, like just relaxation. They don't have this, or maybe they do others, but they don't really have it, you need to find a good place to find a skilled person.

 All right, and the last one I want to talk about is acupressure.

And so I went and got acupuncture. The other day, when I used to live in, which is, acupressure was the same as acupuncture, but instead of using needles, they just like, massage it, right? In the specific pressure points. So it's kind of painful, it's not relaxing at all. And when I was in China we used to go to this place, and it was just like feet, but it was foot acupressure, and man, it used to hurt.

And they used to put your feet in this, at the start they'd put your feet in this Like, broth of ginger tea, hot, with loads of ginger in it, right? And then and that would, like, hurt. And that would, they would take it out, and then that would just, like, really hammer your feet. And then afterward, I remember walking, and my feet would still be sweating from the ginger even though it was, like, middle of winter and cold and stuff.

So it was, but, but you felt amazing afterward, even though it was, like, hardcore and stuff. And then... After that, I went to Indonesia and actually learned some Javanese healing massage which kind of mixes Chinese acupressure, uses the meridians, and uses acupressure, but then it mixes it with like some breathing sort of energy flow stuff as well.

So that's my experience with acupressure. Acupressure is really good and I might even

Oh, hang on. That's not the last one though. I might even include acupressure as part of traditional Chinese medicine stuff as well later on in the spiral fitness plan. I mean, let's get it off the ground first. But yeah, maybe in the future, maybe it's an add-on or something or like if you guys want to learn further stuff.

I don't know, I'll have to learn it as well. I've always been interested in that sort of stuff, especially since I did that Javanese thing. For like, herbal, because they, it, I know it's not western scientifically proven, like a lot of it, a lot of that stuff isn't. But it is it does work to a certain extent, depends, depends what you have, right, but like, it, a lot of western medicine, especially like the pills and stuff, they just mask the problem, they don't really cure it, whereas like, herbal medicine will like actually cure the problem, and like, not just, it's not, because it's a mixture, it's not just herbal, right, it's herbal, it's massage, it's way of life, sort of thing.

But we'll see how we go with that.

 Alright, the next one is shiatsu massage. Which is another one of my favorites. And this was something I was going to learn as well. I don't know, I went through a stage where I was going to learn all of it. But I didn't end up doing it. And I really haven't had much experience with it.

I've definitely had one shiatsu massage. And that's like deep tissue massage, I think. And I've gotta have more experience with it. But I'm a big fan of shiatsu massage. The last one is myofascial release, which isn't really a massage, but this is what we use in the survival fitness plan a lot for mobility, right?

 So I'll go deeper on myofascial release in another episode. I might've already done it already in a previous episode. So while massage, like most massages, like general areas of the body, myofascial focuses on specific areas of the body. So it's good for like it's good for injuries, like if you know how to use it properly for injuries but also we use it in the survival fitness plan, daily, alright, so this is how we use massage and involvement.

So we do myofascial daily, so each day is a different part of the body, right, so like day one, whatever your day one is, let's just say it's Monday, just for, just, it doesn't have to be, but let's just say it is just for ease of talking. So Monday is like head and neck. Head, like your face and head and neck and you just do it with a tennis ball or like get a little massage roller or you could even just do it with your fingers, right, on yourself.

Just put it in certain spots and there are videos in the app. There are videos that'll show you the better way to do it. But sometimes if I'm lazy, I'll just do it with my hands like for five minutes and just, you know, do around your face. All right. So, and then the and then there's like your back.

Is a section, and then your front torso is your section, like your chest, stomach ribs. And then your arms are one, and then your upper legs and your buttocks are one, and your hips are one. And then your lower legs, like your shins and your calf, are one. And then your extremities, like your feet and hands, are another one.

Right? And it's, there's seven of them. Did I say seven? I don't know. Whatever. It's in the, it's in the app. Right? And then you do a different one every day. And then And then, you've got active rest days once a week, right? And on those rest days, because they're active, you do a little bit, it's a good idea to go get a massage, right?

 Go get a massage or other things you could try, like cryotherapy red or infrared Saunas. I haven't tried these things yet. Cryotherapy I'm trying this weekend. Infrared Saunas I want to give that a go as well. But yeah, so you may not have a massage, but my favorite thing on rest days is to go and have a Thai Massage.

 Alright? Yeah. So that's it. Alright, that's it for today's guys. So, go out there, and get a massage. It's good for ya. Try Thai if you don't like Thai. Some, it's a bit intense for some people. Try Shiatsu, that's a good one. If you don't like that, I mean, you start off, like, if you're sensitive to massage rots, start off easy.

You start off with, like, Swedish, and then and then work your way up. Eventually, you want to be able to do, like, Thai or Shiatsu, or both, or whatever. Alright, that's it, guys. Don't forget to download the app. 1 trial for 30 days. www.SurvivalFitnessPlan.com It's live now. You can go do it.

I figured it out yesterday. I finally put it up. It's still got a little a lot of things. on it But I thought you know what if I wait until it's perfect, it'll never be perfect It'll never happen because I'm constantly changing it and updating it with new things on it Even today I was like, maybe I want to change the strength exercises a little bit So we'll see what happens but you can go get it now It's a dollar for 30 days and then you'll get a yeah And you get some bonuses, I think, with it.

Yeah, anyway. Like, subscribe and share. Also, take a screenshot if you're and post it on your social media. That's the best way to get this get this out there. Use the hashtags of the Survival Fitness Plan. And I'll see you next time. Alright, thanks, guys. Bye.

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