Many people suffer from fat deposits around the hips. On the Internet, you can find many tips to get rid of unloved belly fat. But do massage guns count as an effective method against the flab? In this article, I will give you an answer!
Short Answer
I would strictly advise against using a massage gun against belly fat. A massage can indeed tighten the skin and thus make the belly look flatter. However, it does not really lose fat. Belly fat can only be reduced in the long term if the body burns more energy than it consumes. This can be achieved through more exercise and an adapted diet. Especially less sugar and endurance training have proven to be efficient against visceral belly fat.
Furthermore, a massage gun should not be used in the abdominal area anyway. Here, too strong a massage can lead to serious injuries in the worst case!
Long Answer
You have now learned in a nutshell whether you can use a massage gun against stomach fat. Now I would like to go into this in more detail. To do this, I’ll first explain how belly fat is formed and how you can usually get rid of it. Then I’ll show you if you can also use a massage gun to reduce stomach fat.
What causes Belly Fat?
To answer this question, you need to understand how the body stores energy: Simply speaking, excess energy is stored in the form of muscle and fat. If you consume more energy from food than your body burns, you will gain muscle and fat.1 An unhealthy lifestyle with too little exercise and an unbalanced diet accordingly promotes the formation of fat in the body. How the fat is distributed varies from person to person but cannot be controlled. Accordingly, targeted exercises for the abdomen do not help to lose fat exclusively on the abdomen!
How to get rid of Belly Fat?
Too much belly fat carries many health risks in the long run. These include, for example, high blood pressure, diabetes, and osteoarthritis.2 Accordingly, it makes sense to get rid of the excess fat. This is especially true for visceral fat, which wraps around the organs.
To get rid of fat in the long term, more energy must be burned by the body than it takes in. This is best done through an adjusted diet (intake of fewer calories) as well as sufficient exercise. In addition to reducing calories, avoiding sugar and processed carbohydrates has been shown to be effective against visceral fat.3 Likewise, it helps to integrate more cardio training and weight training into daily life.
Can Massage Guns reduce Stomach Fat?
Massage guns perform shocks or vibrations to massage the body. These can, for example, loosen muscles and promote regeneration. Theoretically, the vibration can also break down cell membranes of fat cells so that they release their contents. However, there is no scientific evidence that this works in practice.
Apart from that, applying the massage gun would only affect the fat on the outside. It does not reach the dangerous visceral fat. After all, this is located around organs.
Thus, a massage gun cannot reduce abdominal fat but, at best, tighten the skin. This makes the abdomen look more compact.
The effect can also be observed with cellulite. This can be reduced by massaging with a massage gun, which even a study could prove (see: Can a Massage Gun help with Cellulite?). Again, the fat is not reduced, but only the connective tissue is strengthened, making the skin look firmer and smoother.
Should I use a Massage Gun against Belly Fat?
I would clearly advise against using a massage gun against belly fat. On the one hand, massages do not reduce fat. As already described, the skin just appears tighter. On the other hand, the application in the abdominal area has dangers. If the massage gun is used with too much force, organs can be damaged in the worst case!
Conclusion – Does a Massage Gun help to reduce Belly Fat?
Massage guns can tighten the skin and thus make the body look slimmer. However, belly fat cannot be reduced for this purpose. Instead, the diet should be adjusted, and more exercise should be integrated into everyday life. I would advise against using a massage gun on the stomach anyway. You have learned in this article why this is so. I hope that I was able to help you with this!
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