If you’re driving yourself crazy trying to think of the perfect gift for your partner this Valentine's Day, then look no further.
While flowers and chocolate are typical Valentine’s day gifts, you’re not a typical couple! Your special someone is worth so much more.
Your partner deserves the gift of health, recovery and relaxation.
Of course, there are a few ways you can attempt to gift your partner with such things - a spa day, an evening away from the kids, something along those lines. But these are temporary fixes and do little for long-term wellness.
Instead, you need something that will get used for many years to come, a gift that keeps on giving.
Of course, we are talking about The Pro Massage Gun.
What is a Massage Gun?
A massage gun is a relatively new product in the fitness world, so you may have seen them around, but you may not understand how they work.
You may be more familiar with foam rollers, and vibrating foam rollers. Vibrating foam rollers are based on myofascial release. They are designed to relax contracted muscles, stimulate the stretch reflex in the muscles, and improve blood and lymphatic circulation.
The massage gun is the newest and best innovation in this technology, it is easier to use and more precise. To use it, you simply aim it about an inch away from your skin and let it pulse back and forth.
The Pro Massage Gun comes with 6 different attachment heads and four different settings, making it highly customizable and allowing users to give themselves the best possible massage from the comfort of their home. The device uses strong pulses and vibrations to treat muscle tissue with percussion therapy.
These pulses stimulate blood flow, relieve soreness, improve flexibility, improve range of motion and speed up recovery. The different heads for the device allow you to target specific muscles with targeted pressure.
Why a Massage Gun is a Great Gift For Your Partner
Massage guns come with a host of benefits, from relaxation and better sleep to faster recovery and enhanced performance, but what makes it the perfect gift for your partner?
Alleviate Stress and Anxiety
When your partner is stressed or anxious, it will inevitably make your life more difficult as well. They might have less patience than usual, or they might be difficult to be around, and of course, you want to see them happy.
Massage has been used in cultures across the world to help people relax. In modern times, studies have shown how massage can increase activity in the parasympathetic nervous system to help bring the body to a state of calm, while at the same time decreasing cortisol levels, and increasing levels of the happiness hormones - serotonin, and dopamine. (1)
Cortisol is an important hormone that helps us feel alert and focused. However, too much can wreak havoc on our mood and health.
High cortisol levels are related to the fight-or-flight response which evolved to keep us safe from potential predators. However, now that such an extreme bodily response can be activated by daily stressors such as sitting in traffic - it can make us feel lousy.
Massage can decrease cortisol levels, and therefore stress, and improve overall wellness.
With a massage gun, your partner can perform massages on themselves whenever they want to. As their partner, you can also move the device across their body, while they fully relax. By doing this, your partner will be able to experience more of the relaxing benefits.
Improve Sleep
Less stress and anxiety means better sleep, and when your partner sleeps better, so will you.
Most of us go without the recommended eight hours of sleep every night. Instead, we make up for it with lots of coffee, and then we wonder why we don’t have any energy at the end of the day. Sean Stevenson, in his best-selling book, Sleep Smarter, explains:
“High quality sleep fortifies your immune system, balances your hormones, boosts your metabolism, increases physical energy, and improves the function of your brain.” (2)
Without the right amount of sleep, people recover slower from exercise, perform worse on mental tasks, find it harder to stay away from temptations, and are more likely to suffer from low moods.
When people improve their sleep, they go on to experience many other benefits in their lives as well. For example, if you and your partner are sleeping well, you will have more energy for each other, which inevitably will strengthen your relationship.
Prevent Injury and Speed Up Recovery
Most people aim to be fit and healthy well into old age. When you and your partner are able to keep fit and healthy, it means that you have many years to enjoy your lives together, staying active and adventurous!
If your partner lives an active lifestyle, then a massage gun can enable them to warm up effectively, thus preventing injury, and warm down effectively to ease painful muscles.
When used to warm up, massage guns increase flexibility. For example, in a 2020 study looking at the use of massage guns on calf muscles before exercise, it was concluded that:
“Therefore, we suggest including a percussive massage treatment in a warm-up regimen to optimise the flexibility level of an athlete, without losing muscle performance.” (3)
Additionally, when used to cool down, percussion therapy helps break down lactic acid build-up, which helps the muscles to recover faster. (4)
Increase Flexibility
You probably don’t need to be told how your partner increasing their flexibility could mean fun things for you… just think Kama Sutra.
Massage guns can be used to increase flexibility before a workout. They can also be used as a part of a flexibility routine. For example, when used before stretching, it can help users reach a deeper stretch and benefit further from their exercise.
Make Them Happy!
The best Valentine's gift makes your partner happy! Massage guns are fun and relaxing to use and come with a host of benefits.
When your partner is less stressed and sleeping well, they could experience a huge improvement in their overall health and wellness. If your partner runs, hits the gym, or does any other form of exercise, they will also be excited by the benefits of a massage gun to their routine.
The best part? You can use it for yourself as well!
References
- Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Diego, M., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C. (2005). Cortisol Decreases and Serotonin and Dopamine Increase Following Massage Therapy. International Journal Of Neuroscience, 115(10), 1397-1413.
- Stevenson, S. (2014). Sleep smarter. Rodale Books.
- Konrad, A., Glashüttner, C., Reiner, M. M., Bernsteiner, D., & Tilp, M. (2020). The Acute Effects of a Percussive Massage Treatment with a Hypervolt Device on Plantar Flexor Muscles' Range of Motion and Performance. Journal of sports science & medicine, 19(4), 690–694.
- Imtiyaz, S., Veqar, Z., & Shareef, M. Y. (2014). To Compare the Effect of Vibration Therapy and Massage in Prevention of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Journal of clinical and diagnostic research : JCDR, 8(1), 133–136.
