Engineer.ferris.tattoo

Despite the fact that athletes fall into a very narrow category of people whose lives and performance can genuinely benefit from tattoos (we’ll break that down in another video), they’re usually the first to deny themselves one. The reason is simple: no time for recovery and healing.

When your entire life revolves around training, stepping out of your schedule feels dangerous, almost criminal. Even I often sacrifice the chance to add another piece to my own skin just to stay on track with training. Ironically, the urge to get tattooed hits hardest when you’re at peak condition.

During the off-season, though, athletes tend to slip into a mild state of anxiety or even depression from the lack of activity, which is hardly the best mindset for putting ink under your skin.

Looks like a dead end, right? Not quite. Under the watchful eye of an experienced tattoo artist, you can afford more than just a tiny souvenir tattoo. You can go bigger. Something serious. A full back piece, for example.

Allow me to introduce: Tomas Figueira, an MMA fighter from Portugal. Last week we added another solid chunk to his tattoo. As you can see, the healing process is going perfectly fine, despite his daily training.

Truth is, tattoo artists tend to be overprotective. We often insist on a complete break from training during healing. Not always because it’s absolutely necessary, but because it’s easier to avoid your reality and cover ourselves in case we miss something or fail to catch complications early.

My rule is simple: trust, but verify. Tomas and I stay in touch every single day, so he doesn’t get even the slightest chance to mess up my work.