6 Couples Massage Hacks for Beginners
Could your back rubs do with an upgrade? Maybe you feel like your massages are boring, you’re not sure if you’re doing it right, or you don’t know what to do next. Or maybe your hands just flat out hurt after a few minutes.
Never fear, massage isn’t rocket science. It’s easy when you know how and where to rub.
Here are six simple hacks from a professional (that’s me) who wants to help you get your hands to their A-game… Why? Because massage feels so good and I believe every relationship deserves a little massage in it!
1. Romance your partner’s body
Simple, easy and makes you look like a pro… FAST!
For serious brownie points without hurting your hands, spend time doing what I call romancing your partner’s body!
This is easy to do with a simple contouring technique – it feels fantastic, your partner will love you for it and it’s the best cost-benefit way to clock up brownie points in your massage!
Here’s a video explaining how to go about doing it:
**Skip to 1:29 if you want to miss the reason why my hands are cut up and broken
2. Use your own body to discover knots
Wondering exactly where the tense spots are hiding? Well guess what… you already know! On healthy bodies, we pretty much all have knots and tension in the same places.
Right now, can you think of two areas on your body you love massaged?
I’ll bet money that you’re thinking shoulders…
So go there after you’ve romanced your partner’s body first!
This is such a simple hack when you’re thinking your massages are boring, or you’re not sure where to massage next… just ask yourself “Where do I hurt?”
3. Warm hands solve almost every issue
Sounds obvious right? But it’s often overlooked!
It seems like a small thing, but warming your hands up makes a massive difference to the experience. Cold hands on warm skin is a major turn off!
I had a professional practitioner lay freezing hands on me during a job interview once (yes, you have to test their massage out before they get the job!) – I didn’t hire her, that’s far too sloppy a mistake to make.
Warming your hands is an easy fix that starts your massage off right. Warm them by rubbing your palms vigorously together, or run them under a hot tap for a bit, dry them off and then get oiling!
4. Get your sexy game face on
You know how John Mayer has guitar face? You need sexy massage face!
I’m not even kidding – the more you get into it, the better it feels. It doesn’t matter if you look ridiculous, no one is watching.
Sexy massage face is closely related to stank face?!
Here’s a classic example of mine, a moment in time caught on film forever (and yes, I’ve been called out for this before, publicly too! But that’s fine… all I care about is making my partner as relaxed as possible. Her face in this image means more to me than any humiliating comments on social media).
This also goes for your body language – shake that butt! Any movement from your hips and shoulders translates to your hands, and makes your massage flow.
5. Use the music to introduce rhythm and flow
Rhythm and flow is one of the next level tricks that takes a massage from amateur to professional.
Most couples I see would say it’s deep tissue that makes or breaks the massage… this is not true!
Deep tissue means nothing without rhythm and flow. Introduce a little into your back rubs by massaging in time to the music. Pick something you both already groove to.
6. Follow a routine to guarantee awesomeness
This is the thing that improved my massage quickest when I first started.
Work out in advance what your routine will be. It takes the pressure off thinking about what to do next.
Take a few minutes to write a little sequential massage routine out (or you can follow mine – I’ve got 5 minute, 15 minute and a 30 minute back rub routine in the Melt Video Series – click here), having a cheat sheet like this next to you will make your hands feel pro!
When starting out, following a routine is the best way to guarantee an exceptional massage… when you know your routine inside out – to the point that you’re bored with it, then you’re at an exceptional level. Then it’s time to start improvising and making up routines on the fly – the way professional massage therapists do it.
Learn how to give the best back rubs!
We deep dive into massage techniques, break down what makes a great back rub and show you step by step what to do to be amazing at massage! After 12 years teaching over 30,000 couples in more than 50 countries we know a thing or two that’ll take your back rubs to the next level…
No matter if you’ve been rocking back rubs with each other for years now – or you’re a complete beginner, I promise this course will give you years of “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” while your partner massages you into total bliss!