(Newswire.net — May 28, 2020) —
Percussive therapy is the latest in innovative fitness trends that promise improved performance and reduced soreness, and the best part is that this therapy is the real deal. Massage gun devices use percussive therapy to stimulate blood flow and improve recovery, like a deep tissue massage without a masseuse. This amazing technology has been seen on the sidelines of NBA games and is now found in gyms and physical therapists’ offices across the country, but what exactly is percussive therapy?
What is Percussive Therapy?
Percussive therapy is a type of therapy that increases blood flow to soft tissue throughout the body, including muscles, ligaments, and tendons, with a series of concentrated pulses. You can think of percussive therapy sort of like a pain-free Swedish deep tissue massage, which uses a technique called tapotement that includes, beating, slapping, or hacking on the muscles to release tension. Percussive therapy sends a series of concentrated pulses quickly to one spot, allowing connective tissue to relax, breaking up scar tissue, and increasing blood flow and white blood cells moving to the area. Additionally, percussive therapy actually helps to elongate the muscle fibers and provide relief on the joints, which is what you’d hope to gain from stretching. Percussive therapy is emitted from various massage gun devices in three different components, including amplitude, frequency, and torque. The amplitude measures how far the head of a massage gun device moves back and forth across a specific area, while the frequency describes how many times per second percussive therapy reaches your body. Torque describes the strength of the motor of the device.
How Does Percussive Therapy Work?
The goal of percussive therapy is to increase blood flow to the soft tissues of the body, thereby reducing pain and soreness. The brain experiences pain based on stimulus received from the body, and percussive therapy works faster than this pain stimulus, reaching the brain with a message to calm the body and relax the muscles. Percussive therapy works so quickly during stimulation that the body physically cannot maintain tension in the muscles, which is why massage gun devices are known to work so quickly. Using a massage gun for just 30 seconds on an affected area can provide incredible relief.
When Should You Use Percussive Therapy?
Percussive therapy has so many applications that there’s never a bad time to use it. Athletes can use percussive therapy before a workout to help activate and excite the muscles, helping them to warm up and prepare for peak performance. In this situation, percussive therapy heightens blood flow to the targeted muscles and begins to activate the sympathetic nervous system, which is the fight-or-flight response that helps you perform at your peak when you need it most. Percussive therapy can also be used during a workout as the muscles become fatigued, or on the sidelines during sporting events. The natural tendency of the body is to stretch when the muscles become tight or fatigued during a workout, but studies have shown that this reduces the body’s potential force output. Percussive therapy increases blood flow and activates the muscle, allowing it to loosen again without losing output potential. Of course, percussive therapy can also be used immediately after a workout or in the days following, helping to bring the body into recovery mode faster by taking you out of the fight-or-flight response and activating your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for recovery. Percussive therapy can also help reduce soreness and speed up recovery when used after the onset of DOMS.
Percussive therapy offers the chance to reduce recovery time, improve performance, and decrease pain and soreness without the pain, time commitment, and expense of an in-person massage. The best part? You can take it with you anywhere!