One of Dynamic Touch’s very own is heading to Italy to help out the para-cycling national team as they race the 2012 Piacenza Road Race! Below is a pre-race interview with Katcha of Dynamic Touch Massage!

Q: Hi Katcha, you are getting ready to attend an exciting para-cycling event. Can you fill us in on where you’re headed?

A: I’m headed to Piacenza,  in Italy just south of Milan, for a 5-day road race with members of the U.S. National Para-cycling Team.  Some of these riders will go on to represent the US at the Paralympics this year in London!

Q: What is the importance of massage for these Cyclists getting ready for the road race?

A: As with any athletic endeavor, massage can be a great compliment to training.  It can speed up recovery, allowing the athlete to return to intense training faster.  It provides the athlete with a mental edge: knowing there’s a massage at the end of the day can be in incentive to work that much harder during training.  Massage helps the athlete recover from soreness faster, gives the athlete the opportunity to quickly address any potential problems that may have popped up during the day’s activities, allows the athlete’s body to find calm – allowing the muscles to return to the proper length & suppleness after a hard day of training, as well as the opportunity to return mental focus to the tasks at hand.

Q: Lately, you have been spending some time at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista with the para-cycling athletes, what do you do for them?

A: My title is Soigneur.  Soigneurs travel with the team to support athletes during training and competition through nutrition (water bottles), recovery (massage), and if necessary as a medical liaison.  While at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, I would typically be in a vehicle following the cyclists out on a morning training ride to break traffic for their safety, and to hand them water bottles along the way.  Afternoons were spent doing bodywork for them to aid in recovery so they could train hard again the next day.  We also spent time practicing “feed station” support where the soigneur stands by the side of the road and holds out a water bottle or food bag for the rider to grab as they whiz by!  Timing is everything!

Q: What are some of the challenges you face when working with this specific group of athletes?

A: First of all, each athlete is unique in their disability & consequently in the way they move, which in turn affects the musculature in different ways.  For example, for hand cyclists that use their arms rather than their legs to create the pedaling motion, their upper body is over-developed.  For an athlete missing an arm, whether or not a prosthetic limb is used, means the unaffected side has to do more work for shifting gears & braking which creates a muscle imbalance.  For an athlete who uses only one leg to do all the pedaling, a significant imbalance will be evident in the pelvis & low back muscles.  For an athlete with balance issues, he/she may need more help getting off the bike after extreme exertion.  If an athlete is affected on the right side of the body, handing off food & water bottles may have to occur on the left side of the road, creating potential logistical challenges during a race.

Q: What made you decide to help out with this type of event?

A: Kathy had been heard that the team was looking for soigneurs & had responded herself to help out.  When she found out that the team needed more staff, she recommended me.  I was really excited at the thought of working with this team!  Ironically enough, I’m the only one in my family that doesn’t cycle.  I have a lot of clients that are intensely involved in cycling competitions, whether mountain, road, track cycling, or triathlons (from ultra-mini to Ironman distance).  This gives me the opportunity to really learn about the sport & better serve my clients.  This is also a wonderful blend of my engineering background with my massage therapy practice.  I get to really see how body & machine, cyclist & bicycle work together.  To see how the athlete moves on the bike & then be able to feel how that has affected the musculature is very interesting to me!  I want to know how things work & then see if I can help make those things work better.  The fact that these particular athletes have bodies that work a bit differently just helps me think that much more outside the box!

Thanks, Katcha! We look forward to hearing about your experience in Italy. Safe travels!

The Dynamic Touch Massage Team is Growing!

We’ve just had the honor of adding a very distinguished therapist to our team.  Bea Pacheco has been a Massage Therapist for 20 years.  She has a depth of understanding of the body that only comes from years of study and working with people.

In fact, Bea was a teacher at WIN Therapy when Kathy and Katcha were taking school in 1996!

Bea is a fabulous individual, very energetic and nurturing.  She has a wide variety of skills, from Hot Stone to Deep Tissue Sports Massage.  We hope you’ll consider scheduling your next Massage with her, she works every Sunday.  You wont be disappointed!

You know you’re sending them to good hands with the team voted Best Massage in OC by MyFoxLA!

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Team at Dynamic Touch!

A typical day at the games involved anywhere from 10 to 30 massages in a day! Of those massages some were for pain management, some were pre-race invigorating massages, and some were post-race flush massages to help manage the lactic acid buildup. Use of massage for recovery at an event of this caliber is becoming more and more in demand.

Kathy describes how the Games were a great learning experience for her. She was able to watch and learn from other practitioners in the medical clinic and they were happy to show her some new techniques. The event was both inspiring and enriching for Kathy, she says that working at events like the Pan American Games “makes me a better person and a better therapist”.  Maybe next year she will have the honor to provide massage at the London Olympics… Stay Tuned, and GO USA!!

Each of our therapists brings their own style and experience into the massage room.  Denise is a true out-doorsy gal! She loves activities that she can do with other people like Hiking.  She also did the Pacific Coast Triathlon this year, and 10 years ago! She also kayaks, and does SUP… you name it, she’s tried it!  Katcha has had years on the soccer field, and does pilates regularly. She’s very inspired in a team atmosphere. Patty loves lifting at the gym because she can go on her own schedule, and it keeps her fit, but her favorite thing to do is hike the bluffs with her sweet yellow lab.

You have your own sport, too. And your own reasons for doing it. Whatever it is you’re doing, if you need care you know you’re in good hands with a group of massage therapists who has vast experience from their own healthy lifestyles as well as years of professional experience of working with athletes of many sports in various settings.

Our trained Oncology Massage Therapists are able to adapt a Massage session to Calm, Nurture and Relax anyone during any stage of their cancer treatment or recovery.

A few months ago, Katcha and Kathy both completed a second, much-needed Continuing Education course offered by Greet the Day called Gentle Scar Tissue Release, which helps relieve shoulder limitations and chest-muscle tightness after mastectomy surgery.  With so many women undergoing this surgery, there is a great demand for this very specialized technique.  The sessions are not painful, and are very brief, making treatment more affordable.  Please help us spread the word on this great new addition to our practice!

ART has a very good reputation, especially with Ironman triathletes.  Every Ironman competition has a group of ART volunteers working on the athletes before and after the race.  It is the ideal addition to a Sports Massage Session.

We’re always growing to offer you higher and higher levels of service.  Schedule your massage today, and request the ART add-on for extra therapeutic benefit.

We WON the Vote for Best Day Spa in Orange County!

Your vote helped us win #1 for the Second Year!  Cick on CityVoter to see what everyone else had to say.

Big Huge Thanks to all who voted.  We couldn’t grow without you!