Twice a day for two minutes, the ‘magic’ formula of massage guns.
To be in shape you don’t just have to exercise. Resting and recovering muscles to assimilate the effort made and prepare them for new efforts is also a crucial part of health and as important as exercising. It’s what I knowknown in sports slang as “invisible training” to define the rest that the body needs to assimilate the training loads.
The problem is that going very regularly to get professional massages is common among great athletes, but it represents a large outlay for the popular athlete. The good news is that There are increasingly affordable tools to relieve pain and tension for the user. But are they reliable? And if so, how to use them?
The scientific literature answers these questions with research that ensures that the use of a massage gun -the most common device in this sector- reduces stiffness to the same level as a traditional massage. He adds that this is a cost-effective type of instrument for improving range of motion and strength after fatigue. It is obvious that this support is crucial for brands, in a framework in which companies like Therabody They seek to reach another dimension. In his case, he has done it with a investment of ten million dollars (9.2 million euros) in science and research under the belief that technology will transform medical care over the next decade. The firm’s research portfolio includes 21 scientific studies completed to date and an additional 26 in progress with an internal team of scientists and engineers to test and optimize its products. It has almost 600 patents granted in the world and more than 200 applications.
Science
It counts Jason Wersland, founder of Therabody, obsessed with validating the benefits of the popular Theragun that he invented in 2008 in his personal quest to relieve his pain after an accident. This is how his particular toy was born, of which the firm has just launched three new versions with new features such as Infrared or hot and cold LED light therapy. The key to success is based on how to use these devices, which are used by everyone from the manager’s mother to Cristiano Ronaldopassing through a cast of 250 teams including Real Madrid and an elite of investors such as Pau Gasol, María Sharapova, Daniel Graig or Cindy Crawford.
“Simply start with two minutes in the morning and another two at night in the areas of your body where you feel tension… This way you will begin to discover that you end up using it six, seven, eight, nine, ten minutes a day,” says Wersland in an interview with EXPANSIÓN, in which he also advises its use to menstrual pains or to, in general, improve blood flow in other pathologies. Percussive massage therapy is a technique that uses rapid, repetitive movements combining pressure and vibration to stimulate deep muscle tissue. This action improves blood circulation, reduces muscle tension and relieves trigger points. By preparing the body for a state of deep relaxationthis therapy is also a powerful tool for improve sleep quality.
He says this from his experience as a chiropractor and defends it before the medical community, as he has just done at the International Summit of Elite Sports Medicine in Madrid in a panel made up of doctors from different soccer teams. He stops by explaining why invisible training is something different: “Doctors are not recovery specialists and they understand it that way too, we have to work together.” He is personally a friend of the former head of Real Madrid’s medical services, Niko Mihic. “We met in 2012… I started leaving them products and one day, years later and after trying them, we talked about how we could collaborate together as their official recovery partners,” he recalls as part of a curriculum that under different agreements includes the Premier, Champions, PSG, City or United.
University
Therabody is aware that there may be questions about how to use it. From there was born the Therabody Universityits professional education arm, which combines at the user level with free courses and specialized centers as part of a business for a company with nearly 300 employees that has been profitable since 2017 and that has multiplied its income by 30 since 2020 with a presence in more than 70 countries. The training ranges from recovery from a marathon or warming up for a climb to lower back pain, going through basic wellness options such as preparing the body for an adequate night’s rest routine.
Looking to the future, this type of invisible training has an important gap among the new generations, according to Wersland. They work in leagues made up of the youngest audience, although it is recommended that between eight and ten years old it be used with adult supervision. The manager sees an important future there given that one of the virtues of the family headed by massage guns is connectivity with mobile devices. In addition, they seek to make profitable associations with gyms in the US to export these agreements abroad.
