Do you remember chalking out a day for yourself after rigorous planning and coordination with the massage therapist and do you remember the heavy sigh you took after your massage therapist cancelled?
Long gone is the time where you used to book an appointment with a massage therapist. You don’t need to wait for long periods of time just to catch a little respite anymore. In this technologically driven age, electric body massager machines are all the rage. You can get rid of stress and body aches from the comfort of your home, daily using a body massager gun. However, you’ll only get the results you want only when you know which areas to target with the portable body massager.
The important areas to aim for are-
Neck
Abdomen
Lower Back
Hands
Shoulder
Pectorals
Arms
Legs
There are also some areas which you should not massage daily with or without a handheld massager like your head. More on this later. For now, let’s check out-
8 Vital Areas Of The Body To Massage Daily
Neck
Your neck grants you the ability to rotate your head, among other things. The neck has a lot of muscles designated for just the swivel of your head and if these muscles are stiff or become sore, they will curb your capacity to look around and can be very painful.
A lifetime of bad habits like bad posture and being hunched over a screen or a phone throughout the day or even a mishap can lead to stiffness and soreness in the neck. It takes a long time to get rid of these bad habits but what you can do right now is use a handheld massager to relieve the tension in your neck muscles and thus alleviating pain and stiffness.
Abdomen
Your abdomen or your core houses a mass of muscles which upon adequate training gives people the chiselled washboard aesthetics that you’ve been dreaming of. What if you could train your abdominal muscles without leaving your home? Well, you can. You can train your abs daily with an electric body massager. Of course, you’ll need to fix your diet and do a few crunches as well but using a handheld massager goes a long way on your journey towards your dream physique.
Handheld body massagers can also help in relieving the stress points in your abdomen and in turn increasing your blood circulation. Abdominal muscles work in the background all day, helping you maintain posture and to walk; using a handheld massager at the end of your day to alleviate stress and pain is the only nightcap you’ll need.
Lower back
You can use a handheld massager to give yourself a lower back deep tissue massage every day. These portable body massager machines can pack quite a punch, so, be sure to start with the lowest setting first to avoid any kind of injury. Almost everybody suffers from lower back pain at some point in their lives, massage guns can be very effective in dealing with chronic pain and you can expect results instantly.
Lower back pain is generally caused by bad posture, a sedentary lifestyle or some unanticipated strain. Using a massage gun every day in conjunction with basic compound exercises like deadlifts can help you increase the flow of blood to your lower back and help with lower back pain.
Hands
Most people work with their hands, the dexterity and preciseness of the human hand is a biological marvel. This is achieved by the muscles present in the hand and like every muscle, they get tired. People who do manual labor or type for a living often complain of aching fingers after a long day at work.
You can use a handheld massager every day on your hands to increase the circulation of blood in your hands, therefore, alleviating tension and leaving them relaxed.
Shoulder
Do you sit bent over a computer screen all day at work? Are you resembling the hunchback of Notre Dame with every passing day? Progressive overload at the gym overloaded your shoulder?
Looks like you’re in dire need of a handheld massager. Why spend tons of money and time by going to the massage therapist when you can get a deep tissue shoulder massage right at home?
Handheld massagers work exceptionally well and can be used to ease tense shoulders every day. Using a handheld massager on the stress points of your shoulder can decrease the chances of injury while lifting heavy weights at the gym and even get rid of the pain that stems from the shoulders and into the arms and neck after a heavy workout.
Pectorals
Pectorals are chest muscles that help you move your arms during day-to-day life. Gym freaks know all about the pectorals and bench press massive amounts of weight to build these muscles. If you’re not someone who goes to the gym, you can work your pectorals with a handheld massager to keep them limber and healthy.
Sore pectorals can limit the mobility of your arms or make your shoulders drop into a slouch thus not letting you function at optimal levels in your daily routine. Using a portable massage gun on your pectorals daily can help you massage the trigger pain points in the muscle and thereby relieving muscle stiffness.
You can also use the handheld massager every day to train your pectoral muscles. It won’t be a lot but with even meagre weight training in addition to a deep tissue massage will go a long way in helping you reach your desired physique.
Arms
From the shoulder to your wrist, your arm is full of complex muscles groups. These muscles are primarily responsible for bearing load and the movement of your arms so they can get hypertrophied easily. Though most workout fanatics run after muscular hypertrophy however it also leads to pain and deposition of lactic acid.
Using a handheld massager every day after a workout or even after a long day at work can help in keeping your load-bearing muscles limber and fit.
Legs
It is common knowledge that the muscles in your legs are the most used muscles of the body. From walking to running to sitting and even just standing still requires a lot from your leg muscles. Also, these muscles are the most ignored muscles of the body, you don’t have to wait till chronic pain sets in before you start to contemplate massage therapy.
Using the handheld massager daily can help in strengthening the tendons and can also shorten the recovery time after a tiring activity like jumping rope or running. It is recommended that you start with massaging your calves daily at the lowest setting and then building up from there.
Professional athletes use massage guns all the time to give themselves a deep tissue massage after every intense training session. This improves the blood circulation in that part of the body resulting in instant relief from pain.
Areas you should not massage every day with a handheld massager
Using a handheld body massager machine on certain areas of your body does have some drawbacks. There is a remote risk of receiving an electric shock, so, using it every day on your head or around your ears might not be the best idea. However, most modern electric body massagers are hermetically sealed and highly insulated, you’re only at risk if you’re using an old body massager.
Though massaging your head comes with a lot of benefits, some of the notable ones are hair growth, relief from anxiety, stress and headaches, and also improved blood circulation. Still, many people believe that using a portable electric body massager on the head may cause problems like dizziness, imbalance, nausea and hearing loss. This is because the inner ear is responsible for balance and sound-detection. There is some truth to this though not all of it, but you should still not throw caution to the wind while using a handheld massager on your head.
A lot of problems that were recorded by people using such machines have shown that over 95% of the time, the mistakes that led to injury were human and had resulted from the lack of knowledge on how to use portable electric body massagers or the absence of common sense. People were using it on swellings and physical injuries for prolonged periods of time which led even graver injuries than before.
All these conditions can be easily avoided if you exercise a little bit of caution while using handheld massagers and ensure you use only modern age ones.
Still wondering whether having your own massager gun is worth it? Click here to know more.