Thai massage fuels Olympic dreams

By Keith Bradford

A laundry list of sport-related injuries resulted in Anton Menzel spending countless hours on the massage table.

Now the Calgary-based badminton player is pursuing his Olympic dreams while helping others overcome their own ailments as a registered massage therapist who specializes in Thai massage and stretching techniques.

“As a kid I was always injured in some way — carpal tunnel in both wrists, tennis elbow in both elbows, tore my hamstring,” says the full-time badminton player and part-time massage therapist, who works at Mount Royal University’s Injury & Prevention Clinic. 

“I’ve had every kind of treatment. With massage, it just feels really good — that dopamine release you get when you have massage, especially if you have tight muscles, is just fantastic. Besides that, it’s just very calming and relaxing.

“When you’re injured, your muscles are tight and massage can go in there and release everything. You feel like you’re getting more progress in a short amount of time.”

Menzel, who graduated from the Alberta College of Massage Therapy in 2023, hails from the Yukon, which is where he started training and competing in the sport of badminton.

“I started playing competitively when I was 15,” he says. “Being from the middle of nowhere was not easy, because there was no one to play.

“At 17 I graduated high school and moved to Calgary to pursue massage and badminton at the same time. I started training at the Glencoe Club and play provincially, nationally and internationally.”

Menzel, who is ranked No. 2 in Alberta and in the top 10 nationally, treats clients of all ages and conditions but has a special interest in Thai massage therapy techniques.

“I’m half Thai, half German — my aunt got me into Thai massage,” Menze says, who completed his 2,200-hour diploma in massage therapy and is also certified in Thai massage. “Thai massage is assisted yoga and true traditional Thai massage is assisted yoga on the floor. Some therapists even stand on you. 

“Mostly what I work with is table Thai massage. We move 50 to80 per cent of that floor aspect onto the table. I incorporate it as a technique but it’s a lot more therapeutic. A lot of stretches.”

Menzel says that as an athlete, increased flexibility and mobility is one of the main advantages of Thai massage services.

“You get a lot more stretching. Normal massage releases individual muscles. In Thai you’re stretching everything at once,” he says. “You feel more flexible afterwards.”

As practitioner and patient, Menzel relies on Thai massage to help him navigate a heavy workload that includes training four to six hours a day, six days a week, and working as a registered message therapist at two different clinics.

“At the highest level badminton is a very high impact sport, with all the movement, twisting and jumping,” he says. 

“I’d like to go to the Olympics one day — that’s the big one. But making it to the world championships and one of those big tournaments, making it into the history books, especially as an athlete from Yukon, would be great.”

Book an appointment with the team at MRU Injury & Prevention Clinic. Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Appointments can be booked online or by calling 403.440.6917.