Athletes do weird things to keep their body where it needs to be for the year; some push cars, others run marathons, and others just lift insane amounts of weights.

Bryce Harper has to be different, though.

Bryce Harper has to do (gulps) cupping therapy. Cupping therapy first made its way into the public spotlight during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, when swimmers like Michael Phelps would enter the water with large splotches on their backs from the treatment.

WebMD defines cupping therapy as a form of alternative medicine advertised as: helping to improve blood flow, relieving pain and inflammation, as well as serving as a deep tissue massage — but the suction treatment has never been proven to work.

Apparently, though, Bryce Harper was convinced enough.

HERE IS BRYCE HARPER DOING CUPPING THERAPY



WE ARE SO SORRY

@Bharper3407 pic.twitter.com/AkLhT9ghJf — SB Nation (@SBNation) January 25, 2018

*News Anchor Fish Voice*: We interrupt your offseason to bring you this important message-



Bryce Harper cupping looks like Spongebob with the suds pic.twitter.com/YfkXlbSf4r — MLB Spongebob (@MLBSponge) January 25, 2018

It looks... painful, and also, somehow is really gross. Or something. But hey, if it helps him hit forty home runs, then it’s an image that Nats fans can probably learn to live with.