The science behind percussive therapy

More than a trend: How and why a massage gun is the best new tool to add to your fitness routine.

Wake up. Train. Eat. Stretch. Sleep. Repeat.

Whether you train at the gym, on the pavement, at the slopes, or in the water, you need the right tools to support your body. You need to keep your joints supple, your muscles strong, and your mind right.

At Ekrin Athletics, we understand the high-performance lifestyle. We understand what it takes to stay at the top of your game — whatever your game may be. We understand that what happens before and after training is just as important as what happens during training.

That’s why we stand behind percussive therapy. But you don’t have to take our word for it. The science backs us up.

Do Massage Guns Work?

The short answer: Yes.

Massage guns use percussive motion to apply rapid pulses, benefiting the body's systems when used correctly.

Force, Speed, and Amplitude

Understanding these terms will help you choose the best percussive massage gun for your needs.

Understanding Massage Guns

To understand how massage guns work, you first have to know the primary components of percussive therapy: force, speed, and amplitude. These three factors represent the inner workings of percussive therapy and understanding them will help you choose the best massage gun for your needs.

Force

Percussive therapy is measured in pounds of force. Our lineup of massage guns provides the perfect amount of percussive force to help you feel better on your sorest days and your best days.

Speed

A percussive massage gun's speed, measured in repetitions per minute, determines its efficiency. Faster speeds provide more intense treatment, while slower speeds are suitable for sensitive muscles.

Amplitude

Amplitude refers to how deeply a massage gun penetrates the soft tissue. Our massage guns reach past the surface of the skin, effectively loosening fascia and muscle fibers.

Percussive Therapy and Your Body

The proof is in the pudding. Physiology explains how massage guns work on the body to relieve pain, reduce soreness, and improve performance.

Circulatory System

Your circulatory system includes all of your veins, arteries, and capillaries and is the main route of transit for oxygen, nutrients, and hormones. Percussive therapy profoundly impacts the circulatory system, delivering essential compounds to the muscles that need them most.
Nervous System

Your central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral nervous system (everything else) work together to transmit and receive pain signals, allow you to react to stimuli, and generally complete all human functions.
Musculoskeletal System

Your musculoskeletal system includes all of the connective tissues in your body: muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, bones, cartilage, and fascia. It’s here percussive therapy has the most profound effects.

More Than a Trend

Fitness trends come and go: Every so often, a particular device will rise the ranks of the fitness industry and popular culture will establish it as a mainstay. Think the Thigh Master, the original Bowflex, balance boards and sauna suits. Usually, trends fade into the past as newer, more innovative and more effective products crop up.
Every once in a blue moon, however, a product will soar in popularity and actually stay popular. Now we’re talking items like foam rollers, kettlebells, activity trackers and, yes, massage guns. Massage guns are trendy, sure, but they’re here to stay. Here’s why.

Percussive Therapy on Performance

What happens during training is less than half the battle. The other 22 hours of your day define how you perform as an athlete — as a human. Percussive therapy helps you make the most of your other 22 hours.

Using a massage gun before a workout on the muscles you intend to use may reduce fatigue (or at least your perception of fatigue) during your workout. This is especially true for workouts that isolate muscle groups.
Research shows pre-workout percussive therapy to increase range of motion, muscle strength, and agility during exercise.
When you work out, your muscles endure microscopic tears in response to the duress they’re under. Using a massage device before your workout may reduce the volume of muscle damage without affecting post-workout muscular adaptation (a.k.a. the gains).

Percussive Therapy on Recovery

The combination of increased blood flow, expedited metabolic waste removal, and muscle relaxation make percussive therapy one of the most efficient, most effective methods for augmenting the body’s recovery process.

Traditional massage therapy is the gold standard in soft tissue manipulation, and research suggests vibration therapy is just as effective as massage at reducing delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
Soft tissue therapies, including vibration therapy, can reduce postural misalignments that occur during post-workout muscle soreness phases (think: shoulders hunched up or back arched due to soreness).
Vibrating foam rollers, which use a technique similar to percussive massage guns, are thought to improve range of motion and reduce pain following exercise.
Research suggests massage guns are particularly effective at combatting DOMS (which peaks around 48 hours after exercise) over other types of soreness, especially when used immediately after a workout.

Is Percussive Therapy Right for You?

Elite athletes, recreational exercisers, outdoor enthusiasts, and busy professionals alike are all turning to percussive therapy to enhance their lifestyles. Here’s how a percussive massage device can enable you in your pursuit of fitness and health.

For Athletes

Whether you run, cycle, swim, bat, swing, throw, or kick, percussive therapy ensures your most important muscles are primed and at-the-ready — for anything the day’s training might bring.

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For CrossFitters

Notoriously hard on the body, CrossFit takes a toll on your musculoskeletal and nervous systems alike. Percussive therapy reduces the likelihood you get sidelined by soreness or fatigue.

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For Back Pain

The World Health Organization estimates 60 to 70 percent of the world’s population will experience back pain or already does. At least one half of working Americans admit to having back pain every year. Stop the statistics: Use percussive therapy to relax muscles, improve posture and alleviate back pain.

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For Outdoor Adventurists

Outdoor enthusiasts tend to be somewhat minimalist — you can only fit so much in a backpacking pack — and may see percussive therapy as off-limits due to their on-the-go lifestyle.

Not so fast. Thanks to improvements in technology, percussive therapy can be super compact. Take it from the BANTAM, which packs 35 pounds of force into a tiny 1.1-pound massage gun.

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The science behind percussive therapy