Jim’s Therapeutic Massage & Bodyworks

Have you ever wondered why there are no TV shows out there starring the lives of medical students? It's because on the whole, we lead really, really boring lives. (friend): How was your weekend? F: Same old! Just studying as usual. I may have slept an extra hour or two. (friend): So what are you plans for this break? F: Studying. (friend): What about...okay, never mind. I spend most hours of my days hunched over a bunch of notes and/or my laptop, and my favorite way to de-stress when I'm not feeling as guilty about not studying = working out [...and making/eating food]), so muscle tension/tightness is but a way of life. :O With that in mind, I took a final yesterday before being released for Thanksgiving break (hooray hooray!) and what better way to celebrate than with a therapeutic massage? To start off, never trust Google maps in the state of West Virginia. :[ If you're heading from downtown towards the interstate, there's a complex with a bunch of hotels/inns [Brier Inn Complex] that'll be on your right. Turn there! It's sandwiched in between Subway and the fitness center! I don't get out much/go out to eat very much either, so knowing where Subway was was somewhat of an issue for me. I'm awesome. (Google maps sent me downtown and I ended up calling in to apologize for my incompetence and he directed me on how to get there.) ANYWAY. Jim has had over 40 years of experience in massage therapy and the medical field. He's super, super nice and very knowledgeable and professional; I really appreciated the fact that he took the time to explain everything he was doing. I get cold pretty easily (darn these California roots), so I absolutely loved the heated bio-mat and am somewhat convinced that one of those would make my winters here much more survivable. He worked a tonnnn of knots out of my shoulders (and relieved a lot of muscle tension everywhere else, but especially my shoulders) and I feel a billion times better. I thought it was pretty cool that he could tell what types of exercises I most liked to do just through the massage. I enjoyed talking with him and it was a very relaxing experience. :] I would definitely recommend coming here if you're stressed out and/or just want to treat yourself to an awesome massage! I also got to find out my weight, resting heart rate, body fat percentage, water weight and grip strength (and pinch test!). For the amount I've been stress-eating (yay for tests / winter hibernation preparations) and the lack of regular exercise I've been getting (see aforementioned guilt about not studying), I'm actually in pretty good shape! I haven't checked much of these since my days volunteering as the lab subject for all my exercise physiology labs (what better way to learn, right?), so it was nice to have a comparison. My grip strength is terrible, but you'd best not anger me enough to pinch you. On a sidenote, he also taught my favorite lab at school (casting/splinting!), so he gets bonus points in my book! :D (I can't really comment on pricing because being a ring girl has its perks, but I think the prices are really reasonable.)