What is the weight capacity of a massage table?

What is the weight capacity of a massage table?

Sometimes, a massage therapist or acupuncturist will be concerned about whether their massage table is strong enough to support all kind of clients including pregnant women or some big clients. No one would like to have accidents during the treatments. Therefore, having a good massage table which is strong and stable to support clients is an essential factor during your treatments. 

What is the weight limit of a massage table?

Usually on the manual or instructions of the massage table, you could find the weight limit of the massage table. Normally, there is a working weight and static weight for a massage table.

What are the differences between working weight and static weight?

Usually, when we said the massage table could bear up to 350 pounds or 200 pounds. It is more likely to be an average working weight. Working weight is the force that a massage table can safely use to practice treatments without fear of breaking. Working weight of a massage table is considered to be how much weight the table will hold in addition to the added weight, pressure, and side load of a therapist giving the massage.  A working weight sometimes stated as safe working load (SWL) or Normal Working Load (NWL). This term is also used for other lifting equipment.

As technology develops and better materials are found by manufacturer, the working weight capacity of massage table improves from 250 pounds to 350 pounds at least nowadays. With excellent frame designs and processing skills to improve material strength and stability, it is very common to find a massage table with up to 500 pounds or even 800 pounds of working load capacity.

Static weight has a significantly higher weight threshold than working weight. It could be up to 2000 pounds for a portable massage table. Static weight of a massage table is how much weight the table will hold with the weight remaining stationary. The static weight does not mean that you can put that amount of weight on a spot on the massage table. The weight is spread out evenly over the top of the table. In most scenarios, the four corners and in the middle seam are the strongest parts which can bear more weight.  When your clients sit on a massage table, most of the time, they will sit in the middle where the seam is. If you were to place several hundred pounds of weight in the middle of either half of the table it would probably crack the deck.

At the end of the article, you could find that you do not have to worry about the working load of a massage table. It is strong enough for you to practice treatments. Apart from that, a massage table with a wooden frame will be stronger than an aluminum massage table. A standard stationary massage table has higher weight capacities that are normally double the limit of portable models.

A portable massage table is usually strong enough to use for a long time. But if you do would like to have something more stable, a stationary massage table will be a better choice. With that said, it is known by professionals that a good table should be well designed and manufactured. In addition, no matter how much weight been put on it and how much time you use it over time, you can still use it for a very long time. Lierre.ca provides top quality massage tables at great prices.