What are the benefits of massage guns? It is based on the same principle as other recovery procedures, although the research is not yet robust. The popularity of massage guns is on the rise. They are praised by stars, renowned athletes, and fitness experts alike. Can they do the same for you?
If you decide to use one, here’s how to understand when they’re useful, how they work, and when to avoid them.
Massage Guns: What Are They and Why Do We Use Them?
Massaging guns (also called “acoustic massage therapy” or “vibration treatment” as well) are compact, portable devices that resemble power drills and sound like them. The majority of them are wireless – they use rechargeable batteries – and have interchangeable attachments.
Upon activation, the gun’s attachments vibrate at a low amplitude and a high frequency, which practitioners claim promotes healing from exercise and enhances athletic efficiency while decreasing soreness.
Muscle Recovery Tools: How to Pick One
According to Malek, massage guns perform the same tasks as massage, but in a different way. Consequently, they’ll provide a comparable effect to compression and manual therapy. It depends on what works best for you.
Myofascial release is used to reduce muscle tension through foam rolling. Muscles, capillaries, and nerves are surrounded by fascia, a connective tissue. It is possible for the fascia to become constrictive, even swollen, and if that occurs, your mobility can be restricted. A sponge roller, however, helps tight muscles relax and release through gentle to moderate sustained pressure, says Malek.
The effects of applying a massage gun over a specific area might be similar, but it doesn’t meet the definition since it’s rapid and percussive, Malek says.
What are the advantages of guns? According to Brian Abarca, certified personal trainer at Passaic Academy, it can focus on certain parts of the skin more effectively than a sponge roller, especially tough-to-reach ones, like the pectoral muscles in your torso, your forearms, and the pectoral muscles (which reach from your lower back up the front of the thigh bone in your thighs). I am a part-time instructor at Union Regional College of Union County, New Jersey.
Alternatively, static stretching makes use of slow, continuous movements to promote comfort and reduce muscular tension, and as with foam rolling, its benefits are more well established, Malek says.
The non-percussive impact of stretching may make it more relaxing for some people, Malek explains. Also, since there is no equipment required, it’s more accessible.
Massage guns: what they are for
The massage gun can be used anytime you need to relax your muscles, but it’s most popularly used prior to and after exercise. Zeman: “Pre-workout, using the massage gun helps relieve muscle tension.
Gun use can relieve soreness or discomfort from training the day before or the day of a workout, in addition to warming up prior to workouts, says Abarca.
Abarca recommends using them for at least 48 hours prior to a workout to reduce muscle soreness and enhance recovery.
When using the gun successfully, locate a spot around your body that is tight and move the gun over it. Malek recommends not to add too much pressure, but to add it as tolerated. By pressing a trigger or switching a switch, you can increase the pressure applied to the gun. Keep sweeping for two minutes or stay for 15 seconds at a time. In fact, guns and applications have been linked so that you can see the amount of force you need to fire.
