Hidden Gems: Meet Ingrid Beverly of Equalize Sports Massage & Personal Training

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ingrid Beverly.

Hi Ingrid, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
In 2004, I began a 70-pound weight loss journey that culminated in 2005 with a personal trainer certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). This work gave me great insight into how the human body is designed to function and taught me that with proper care and feeding it can serve its owner in almost any physical endeavor he or she desires.

In 2013, I pursued continuing education with NASM to become a Corrective Exercise Specialist. As a personal trainer and then especially as a corrective exercise specialist, I learned how important flexibility training is to the whole exercise-for-wellness experience. However, as a trainer, the most flexibility training I could offer was a technique called, self-myofascial release and stretching exercise.

The self-myofascial release was fascinating because it involved untangling fascia, a connective tissue, from around muscle fibers and relieving restrictions, which allows for more ease of movement in activities of daily living and also in sports performance. Unfortunately, as a trainer I was restricted to teaching a client how to use tools that they could use to apply the techniques on themselves; I say unfortunately because as a trainer, you can never truly be certain that the client is using the technique as effectively as possible.

In 2019, with the support of my amazing family, I began my journey into massage therapy. I knew that massage therapy would afford me the opportunity to manually manipulate entangled tissue that could not be properly affected by self-myofascial release, and that it would be a valuable tool in my fitness arsenal. Thanks to the wonderful instructors at Arbor College School of Massage, I was able to focus on clinical, therapeutic, and sports massage.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I graduated from Arbor College School of Massage in Knoxville, TN on February 2, 2020. I received my letter from the State of Tennessee, allowing me to practice on March 22, 2020. On March 23, 2020, the Knox County Public Health Officer issued a Safer At Home Order closing all non-essential businesses and encouraging residents throughout Knox County to stay home when possible.

At this moment, I realized I had two remarkable skill sets — both of which had now been rendered non-essential. Again, thanks to my family, I took this time to review what I had learned and further my skills by adding RockTape Kinesiotaping, Cupping, and Blades (IASTM – instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization).

We’ve been impressed with Equalize Sports Massage & Personal Training, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Equalize Sports Massage & Personal Training is a woman-owned, sole proprietorship. I specialize in sports and therapeutic massage. This form of massage is ideal for everyone, from those seeking to maintain an active lifestyle, to athletes, to those recovering from injury.

Equalize Sports Massage & Personal Training is located inside MaxPotential Physical Therapy and exists as a separate office. MaxPotential is a wonderful, therapeutic setting where we all strive to lift each other up and provide the best care for patients and clients. Where massage seeks to facilitate increased range of motion in areas of inflexibility and tightness, a complementary strength training program seeks to increase stability in areas of weakness.
Additional tools I use in my office include:

1. The RockTape line of products — RockTape kinesiology tape, RockPods for cupping, and Blades for instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM). All of these tools are designed to untangle fascia from around the fibers of muscle and soft tissues, and allow for a greater range of motion and ease of movement.

2. Strength training equipment designed to enhance stability — stability ball to enhance core strength, unstable surfaces to enhance sensory awareness, and strength bands to emphasize both the contraction action and the lengthening action of a muscle.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
My current favorite book is Anatomy Trains by Thomas W. Meyers. Anatomy Trains wonderfully explains how pain in one area of the body can actually be a result of a myofascial restriction — tangled fascia surrounding muscle fibers — in another part of the body.

My favorite app is an app called Human Anatomy Atlas. I discovered this app while taking Human Anatomy and Physiology at Pellissippi State Community College. It saved me!

Contact Info:

• Email: Ingrid.ptmt@equalizesportsmassage.com
• Website: https://equalizesportsmassage.com/
• Instagram: @ingrid.lmtcpt
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingridanna.beverly.7
• Other: https://squareup.com/appointments/book/A6MV7YH2XBT5F