Are certified Personal Trainers allowed to massage or perform hands on soft tissue work on clients?

Hi Sean,

hands-on soft tissue work is not in the scope of practice of certified personal trainers. If you have the qualifications for it, then this will be regulated through the appropriate agency.

There are several techniques for self-manipulation which can fall into the scope of a personal trainer, such as MELT (Myofascial Energetic Length Technique) or the myofascial release techniques recommended through the corrective exercise continuum of the NASM CES certification. Those are done by the clients themselves based on evaluation and advice of a trainer.

Hope this helps.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com

Hello Sean,
Highly not recommended, and the trainer/s should stay with the scope of their practice/certification/s.

Sincerely,
Michael

Thank you LaRue!
I live in Texas and the law states only a massage therapist can give massages. However, I'm also wondering if there are any other certifications
besides ART or MAT that allow for "hands on" soft tissue work. I have seen many trainers doing soft tissue work under the guise of massaging.

Correct

Absolutely correct. Touching a client for purposes other than correcting form is risky business even with vocal permission. Write into the contract/waiver that this is accepted by the client and... NO MASSAGE!

I don't believe so.

There are too many grey areas in that department. I'd say look into massage licensing before you get even more "hands on" than a trainer should be.

As others have said Massage is out side the scope of practice for a fitness professional. licensed professionals such as a massage therapist, Athletic trainer, occupational and physical therapist are able to perform manual work. The best way to get a license is massage school which can take six months to year. compared to the others that require a formal academic degree the massage therapy route would be the fastest.

NO MASSAGE! Unless the trainer has some other certification or license (i.e. Massage Therapy or perhaps Athletic Training as Joshua said). As LaRue said, it can vary state to state but most Personal Training certifications I've looked at don't include massage in their scope of practice.

Massage therapy is out of the scope of practice for personal trainers. A state license is required for massage therapy and without it you are jeopardizing your career.

I am a personal trainer and licensed massage therapist.