Massage gun

The touted benefits of a massage gun are pretty impressive – boosted immunity, muscle recovery, flexibility and joint mobility, to name a few. A massage gun is a handheld device that uses vibration therapy to emulate a technique called ‘tapotement’, where therapists move their hands in a fast and rhythmic manner to stimulate the nerve endings in the target area.

This stimulation of the nerves promotes several things, including increased blood flow and lymphatic drainage, which can contribute to an increase in muscle flexibility and joint mobility. 

Massage guns can also help with tight shoulders, necks, or backs from sitting at a desk, as well as being used to warm up muscles before the gym or as part of your post-training recovery. 

1. Promotes Blood Flow

Applying a massage gun to an area on the body creates a sort of rippling effect along the skin, like waves. This enhances the rate of blood getting to the area. By boosting blood flow, the targeted muscle gets a greater rate of delivery of fresh blood with higher levels of oxygen and nutrients, both of which are essential for muscle recovery and healing. The increase can also contribute to reducing swelling and inflammation, as well as a host of other benefits.

2. Encourages Lymphatic Drainage

Massage guns may help our bodies to fight infection because they give the lymphatic system a boost. This part of the body is responsible for our immunity, and its job is to protect us from illness and disease. By reducing the amount of lymph fluid in the body, the muscles can perform optimally and won’t feel as heavy after a workout.

3. Increases Muscle Flexibility

A massage gun can also relieve soreness and stress in the body by releasing tension and fluid deep in the muscles to enhance tissue metabolism. A massage gun can help a muscle and its thousands of fibers to relax and be less taut. 

4. Better Joint Mobility

Any benefit of using a massage gun on a muscle indirectly helps to improve joint mobility too. This is due to how our muscles are connected via tendons into bony origins. If you take away some of the tension from a muscle or help it to relax then the subsequent tension on the joint is also reduced.

5. Faster Muscle Recovery

DOMS, or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, is that achy or stiff feeling you get after intense, new, or unfamiliar exercise.

DOMS is a common by-product of exercise, typically through overtraining the muscle, trying a new exercise, or eccentrically loading the muscle.

While you can’t avoid DOMS completely, several studies have revealed that massage guns can help to reduce the pain and soreness – in turn speeding up muscle recovery.