Russian massage is based on techniques that have been used in Russia for over 100 years, and is based on the philosophy that through massage the body can learn to heal, relax and repair itself. Russian massage uses many unusual techniques, but interestingly they use similar terms to Swedish massage.

So for instance they use the terms friction and tapotement, however the techniques they use are very different to those used in other styles of massage. The Russian massage style of tapotement is less intrusive than the Swedish style, covers a larger surface area and is used to increase blood flow to the muscles. Russian massage also uses some friction techniques, both that are very deep tissue styles of massage.

The “sawing” technique is an intense style of massage that adds a lot of heat to the muscles and is helpful for chronic muscular problems. The cresting technique is also unique to this style of massage and again is a friction technique. Often used in sports massage, this technique again provides heat to the muscles. Raking is also a common technique and is used along the erector spinae muscles and also the intercostals muscles, allowing for deep tissue manipulation