What Are Massage Guns For And Its Benefits?

Massage guns are becoming fashionable among the world’s elite athletes. But what are massage guns for? What are its benefits? In this article, we are going to see all of this, as well as some of the contraindications of massage guns.

Massage guns were built by Dr. Jason Wersland who created the famous Theragun to relieve pain after suffering a motorcycle accident.

Over time, these muscular devices have become tools of use among physiotherapists and masseurs, especially in the United States, thanks to the many benefits they offer us.

The concept on which all massage guns are based is percussion or vibration therapy. So, before you buy a Massage gun, you should know the following benefits:

Reduces soreness and muscle pain

The soreness is known as DMAT, late-onset muscle pain (DOMs). And, as we all know, its symptoms are usually pain and weakness in the muscles, as well as a feeling of stiffness and tightness. It is called late because it usually appears 24–28 hours after exercising.

Various studies suggest that vibration therapy, the basis of massage guns, is very beneficial in preventing the appearance of these types of ailments. As well as helping us relieve the pain caused by these.

This is because the neurons that receive the vibration and pain sensations are the same. In a simple way, through vibration massage, what we do is “trick” these neurons into making them feel vibration instead of pain.

Improves muscle performance

Percussion massage therapy helps us to improve muscle contraction, which translates into strengthening and flexibility of the muscles.

The main objective of this type of massage is to relax the muscles and release tension, which favors muscle recovery after exercise, thereby improving their future performance.

Releases lactic acid

Lactic acid is a substance generated naturally by the body that serves as a source of energy for the human body. During exercise, since the body needs energy, it begins to release lactic acid.

If the exercise is very intense, the production of lactic acid may be greater than it needs, accumulating this in the muscles and crystallizing.

Although lactic acid was believed to be associated with soreness, it has recently been shown that this is not true.

However, it is related to the athlete’s fatigue, the more lactic acid the greater the fatigue we will have. When there is an excess of lactic acid, pain and fatigue can appear, so we should delay that limit.

A massage gun serves us and helps to release and reduce this lactic acid along with other toxins. This way we will be able to delay the threshold we talked about before, improving our performance and reducing fatigue.

The higher the intensity, the more liberation we will achieve.

Increases blood flow

By applying a percussion massage on the muscles increases their blood flow. This can help us both before starting our exercise, and after practicing our sport.

Applying the machine for 15 seconds during our warm-up, we increase blood flow thereby improving oxygenation of the muscle and preparing it for the training session.

On the other hand, the massage gun also helps us at the end, since with a greater blood flow we help the relaxation and recovery of the muscle. With this, we not only achieve relief but also prevent the appearance of injuries.

It serves to sleep better and relieve stress

According to Theragun, massage guns serve to regulate the central nervous system, making us feel more relaxed. If we use massage guns routinely, we will reduce our stress level.

If we have sleep problems, they also recommend using massage guns for two minutes before going to bed. In this way, we will achieve more restful sleep.

Better warm-up

Massage guns are primarily intended to help the muscle recover. However, it can also be very beneficial to use it during warm-ups. There are two reasons for this:

• Increases blood flow, which we have already seen
• Activates the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for preparing the body for exercise

A short massage in the muscles that we are going to use during our training session can help us to warm up better.

There are even more benefits that you get from am massage guns! So, get your one for yourself now!