Why Massage Guns Are Workout Game-Changers

Recovery and preparation are as crucial as the workout itself. These processes determine the quality of your workout and what you gain from it, respectively. And one of the best ways to improve on these areas is through massage therapy. For this exact purpose, many pro athletes and gym buffs rely on trusty portable devices like the massage gun.

Workout benefits of massage guns

Massage guns are powerful handheld massagers that deliver deep, rapid strokes into your muscles. And here’s what that does for your workout performance:

More effective warm ups

A quick massage goes so well with warm up routines because they do very similar things to your body. As it increases your blood flow and body heat, your heart rate ramps up and your blood vessels dilate. This prepares your circulatory system for the increase in cardio activity.

As a response to the increase in temperature, your muscles also begin to gain more elasticity. This is helped along by how each stroke stretches your muscle fibers, and stimulates muscle spindles to anticipate more movement. On top of that, the massage can also eliminate stiffness from your muscles to further help your mobility.

More relaxing cool downs

The goal of cool down routines is to set the best possible conditions for recovery. That said, it’s crucial to have a proper transition between exercising and resting. This starts with helping your heart rate slow down gradually. Skipping this part may cause too much blood rushing down to your lower body, which leads to dizziness and disorientation.

It’s also common to feel muscle soreness and tension right after a workout. Muscle knots, spasms, and tightness are common byproducts of muscle fatigue and trauma. A massage gun is perfect for regulating circulation, relieving muscle pains, and calming the nervous system.

Faster muscle recovery

What happens between your workouts largely influences the benefits you get from your routine. After each workout, your muscles need to rebuild properly and prepare for the next one. And while recovery mainly consists of rest, you can always proactively optimize this process.

One of the most common struggles during post workout recovery is dealing with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). As its name suggests, you only feel this pain around 12 to 24 hours after an intense workout. Lasting for another 3 to days, this can prove to be disruptive to your workout routine and its goals.

Massage gun therapy is well-known for its ability to help with this particular problem. Its rapid and percussive motion immediately blocks pain signals to your brain, providing instant relief. And by stimulating your blood flow, it optimizes the absorption of the nutrients that help repair your muscles. This allows for significantly shorter recovery times and more frequent workouts.

How to use the massage gun

You only need to adjust a few things to get a massage that suits your needs. And this usually starts with choosing attachment heads – a set of removable tips that come with your massage gun. Being the part that actually makes contact with your muscles, each one caters to specific purposes and muscle groups.

Here’s a quick rundown on how they work:

After choosing the appropriate attachment head, you need to find the right speed setting. In most applications, you can run it as fast as your comfort allows. When working with more severe pain, however, you’d want a slower percussive massage.

Finally, you can also make minor adjustments in how you apply the massage gun on your muscles. Most types of soreness would need you to move it around constantly. As for muscle tension, you can let it stay over one spot for up to 30 seconds. And if you need a deeper massage, you can press the device harder against your muscles.

For warm ups and cool downs

1. For your major muscle groups, use the ball or flat head attachment.
2. Glide the massage gun for 15 seconds over one muscle group at a time.
3. Adjust speed and add pressure as needed.
4. Repeat on all the other muscle groups.

For muscle knots

1. For this type of pain, go for the fork or bullet head attachment.
2. Locate the muscle knot and hold the massage gun over it for 15 to 30 seconds.
3. Feel free to apply more pressure into the muscle as needed.
4. Repeat with other spots that suffer from muscle knots.

For DOMS recovery

1. Intense or widespread pain would benefit from a more gentle massage. The foam ball attachment works great for this purpose.
2. Gently hover the massage gun across the muscle group for up to 120 seconds.
3. Adjust the speed and pressure as needed.
4. Repeat on other muscle groups experiencing soreness.

For joint and ligament pains

1. Choose the foam ball attachment.
2. For this purpose you need the massage gun at its lowest speed setting.
3. Avoiding your joints, gently massage the muscle groups that surround them.
4. Do this for 15-30 seconds per muscle group.