Meet the Team
Meet Alvin: Registered Massage Therapist
We are excited to welcome Alvin to our Thrive team!
Alvin was born in the Philippines and moved to Canada when he was 5 years old. Growing up he was into the arts and slowly transitioned into sports and fitness and started taking fitness seriously after high school with the introduction of powerlifting and mixed martial arts at 28. He is disciplined in Muay Thai, wrestling and boxing but has a keen interest in powerlifting where he is constantly challenging himself and pushing to beat his own records for bench, squat and deadlifting!
Alvin was introduced to massage therapy during a mixed martial arts session where he injured his knee. Unable to participate in any heavy activities, including the gym or training in fights, led to a depressing time for him and he started to rethink whether he could continue doing mixed martial arts. Luckily one of his teammates, an RMT approached him and he began seeing him for treatment. “After one session, I noticed a big difference in my knee!” This piqued Alvin’s interest in massage therapy. “I guess that injury was a blessing in disguise!”
He started school in September of 2019, before the pandemic with no idea of what was to come. “I made a lot of sacrifices to continue school during the pandemic and I am very grateful to be licensed. I am still on cloud nine knowing I finally became registered”. Alvin attended Oxford College in Burlington and graduated in July of 2021. He became registered with the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario in February of 2022.
Since graduation, Alvin has practiced at multiple Hand and Stone Massage and Spa locations where he continued to develop his massage therapy skill set and realized a keen interest in providing deep tissue massage and treating sports related injuries. He finds that specifically utilizing his favourite technique, “PIR” (post isometric relaxation) stretching in treatment assists with clients who present with loss in range of motion and joint related issues. Alvin is excited to get to know new clients and continue to learn and grow as a therapist, working with a great team of RMT’s in a more clinical setting.
“Although I have only been practicing recently, my joy in treating individuals is knowing that they are better after the treatment. Every single one of my clients is a learning experience and will slowly allow me to grow into a better RMT.”
Message Alvin directly here: alvinn@thrivemassagewellness.com