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It began with A List celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and now it seems like this year’s Olympics athletes have seen the appeal.
Several Team USA Olympians have been pictured with small, circular marks on their backs and shoulders, indicating that they subscribe to the healing technique called cupping.
The process dates back to Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures and works by applying glass cups to the skin along the meridians of the body, creating suction as a way of stimulating the flow of energy.
Naddour told USA Today that he found cupping ‘provides relief from the soreness and pounding that come from gymnastics’
Some techniques involve heated cups, which all-world swimmer Michael Phelps favors.
He even included footage of himself having the treatment in his new promotional called Rule Yourself.
Team USA gymnast Alex Naddour is also happy to go public and posted an Instagram picture of himself with a cupping mark clearly in view.
‘That’s been the secret that I have had through this year that keeps me healthy,’ Naddour said. ‘It’s been better than any money I’ve spent on anything else.’
‘It has saved me from a lot of pain.’
Many of his fellow team mates do the same, with some even carrying it out themselves, by applying the cups and creating suction with a pump.
Team captain Chris Brooks said: ‘You’re like, ‘OK, I’m sore here. Throw a cup on, and your roommate will help you or you can do it yourself.’
Meanwhile, former U.S. Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin has also shown off her own cupping bruises on her Instagram page.
Aspiring athletes of Ridgewood and Glen Rock, please let us help you on your journey to be a Gold Medalist in the next Olympic Games!