Massage For Weight Loss

Last Updated on November 7, 2022 by

Making our weight loss easier is what everyone wants. And the best way to do that is through massage therapy. Massage is not just good for relaxing and relieving stress, but also for those with high blood pressure, for those who are obese and those with major health issues.

Massage therapy is an ancient tradition from India and China. Now, a massage does not have to necessarily be the crazy circus show you see at physical therapists’ offices or spas. You can simply develop a massage routine for yourself that helps you lose weight and prevent it from coming back. After all, if you want to take control of your weight, then this is the way to go. Here is why: I’m going to talk about Magazines For Weight Loss, make sure you read this article.

Massage For Weight Loss

Massaging for weight loss: Does it work?

It’s no more a secret that losing weight is the perfect combination of a healthy diet and regular workout. The process is tough but once you start seeing the results, it all feels worth it. Because weight loss is all hard work, something as relaxing as a massage can help you lose weight. Sounds like a dream, no? But some recent studies and health experts claim otherwise.
Massaging for weight loss
Massaging is a wonderful way to energize your body, destress and unwind. A good massage can have a stimulating effect on your digestive organs and thus can ease constipation, nausea and allow your body to make most from the nutrition it gets. It boosts your metabolism, blood circulation and helps relax the sore muscles after a workout. This creates a stronger version of your body thus a perfect backdrop for your weight loss.

Cellulite and fat loss massage
Massages do work to reduce the dimpling of skin that comes with the accumulation of fat, better called cellulite. But these massages cannot fix the problems permanently. Experts and researchers suggest that such massages can work great as a temporary solution but are not a permanent fix.
How does fat burning massage work?
A study compared the effect of three different types of massages – mechanical massages, manual lymphatic drainage and connective tissue manipulation on different body parts. The results were, fat loss happened in all the cases as indicated by abdominal fat thickness, thigh circumference and thigh fat thickness. But the difference was not huge enough to indicate weight loss. But these massages could definitely compliment your weight loss.

Are massages any good at all?
Massages are a good way to relax, unwind and rejuvenate but massages alone may not be enough for achieving the weight loss results. But by keeping your digestive system, blood circulation and metabolism healthy and in good working order, massage create a perfect backdrop for weight loss.

Massage can supplement exercise
A good massage after a hardcore workout can be the perfect sidekick. This is the reason why your fitness trainers indulge in massages so often. According to the American Massage Therapy Association, massages compliment exercise. Massages help in lowering the muscles tension, increasing your motion range, reduce swelling, decrease muscle stiffness and even prevent injury. All the creates a stronger version of your body, allowing you to workout harder.

Massages improve blood circulation and metabolism
Good blood circulation helps in proper nutrient supply throughout your body. Connective tissue manipulation is a massage where soft tissues are manipulated to improve circulation. Better circulation leads to better metabolism, which helps you burn more calories.

Massages improve your digestion
Massages ease constipation, nausea and help gastrointestinal issues. And when your digestion health is optimal, your body can make the most of the nutrients it gets and thus helps you lose weight. Manual lymphatic drainage is a massage that helps to push waste out of your body’s tissue, helping in overall weight loss.

Ways to boost the effectiveness of your massage
Massages are great in all the ways, studies also claim that combining massages with laser therapy or infrared can boost its effect. Researchers found that using laser light (low-level dual beam) delivered a better result than massage alone.

10 Effective Ways Massage For Weight Loss Can Get You Slim Faster

by Drsheraz | Mar 31, 2021 | All articlesmassage for weight loss

Have you tried a dozen of weight-loss diets and techniques but nothing showed your expected results? Here are the 10 ways massage for weight loss can help you achieve your desired shape FAST. 

Being overweight is never going to work in your favor. There are many health complications associated with obesity, including diabetes, kidney diseases, hypertension, fatty liver disease, heart diseases, stroke, etc.

Maintaining weight under normal ranges is essential for a healthy life. There are many ways of doing it; medicines, exercise, dieting, and massage.

Dieting can be too hard. Imagine having your favorite mouth watery food in front of your eyes, and you are resisting yourself from eating that food. It doesn’t seem a good idea. There are medicines for weight loss, but they have adverse effects associated with them.

How Massage For Weight Loss Works?

A massage for weight loss can be an excellent way to help you deal with weight loss. Massage heals your body in a thousand ways. The research is still going on on the therapeutic effects of massage for weight loss. Massage also helps you to get rid of excess fat, reduce cellulite, and improve digestion. It is an effective way for obese persons to reduce their weight. 

Massage For Weight Loss

Studies show that combining massage therapies with exercise produces amazing results. Read on to know how massage lowers weight and which messages are helpful.

Massage Improves Blood Circulation 

Poor blood flow results in the accumulation of waste metabolites in the body that is associated with weight gain. 

Massage for weight loss is known to improve blood circulation. A study published in The Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine suggests that massage increases blood flow. There were a total of 28 participants that received a ten-minute massage on the calf area. There was an increase in temperature, which suggested improved blood flow.  It can be because of the pressure applied to some areas that move blood through the congested areas.

 An increased blood flow carries more oxygen and nutrients to body organs and removes all the toxic metabolites from the body through the kidney as urine. In this way, the increased removal of waste products prevents their accumulation in the body, thus decreasing the chance of weight gain.

Massage Improves Muscle Tone

Many exercises help lower your weight, but sore muscles decrease your performance during exercise. Massage relieves sore muscles; it allows you to perform better during exercise and burn more calories, enhancing your weight loss.

It manipulates your tissues. It improves muscle tone mainly by improving oxygen supply to oxygen through increased blood flow. It also helps tight muscles to loosen, thus decreasing the soreness of muscles. 

A study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy suggests that massage therapy improves muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and contraction. Combined massage therapy and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation were given to 20 healthy subjects. The results verified massage effectiveness in improving muscle tone.

Improves Cellulite Appearance 

A massage is also known to improve the appearance of cellulite by stretching skin. Cellulite is a condition where lumpy flesh develops on thighs and buttocks. It is subcutaneous fat. Cellulitis results when you eat food with high fats. It gets deposited in fat cells and expands them, which results in weight gain.

If massage is applied to cellulite targeted areas, it breaks down fat and reduces its appearance that lowers your weight, and makes you look slimmer. According to an article published in the International Journal of women’s dermatology, massage may reduce cellulite, resulting in weight loss.

Massage Relieve Stress 

Several kinds of research show that increased levels of stress are associated with weight gain. It may be due to an increase in appetite or emotional reactions. An article published in 2009 suggests that increased anxiety and stress level is linked with adiposity, which increases weight.

Massage for weight loss

Massage for weight loss helps you manage an increased weight that is associated with high-stress levels. A massage is well known for promoting relaxation. It does that in several ways. It produces dopamine and serotonin in the body, which produces feelings of happiness. It also decreases cortisol levels that are produced in response to stress. 

An article published in the International Journal of neuroscience confirms stress reduction following massage therapy. On average, there was about a 31% decline in cortisol levels, a 28% increase in serotonin levels, and a 31% increase in dopamine levels reported.

Massage Increases Metabolism

A slow metabolism burns only a few calories, which means more fat gets stored in your body resulting in weight gain. On the other hand, increased metabolism means increased energy consumption by your body, helping you burn some extra calories. Massage improves blood circulation. Increased blood flow results in an increased exchange of materials (nutrients) and oxygens between blood cells and body tissues, thus increasing metabolism. 

It allows muscles to burn more calories. By having a massage, you can eat your favorite food without being worried about gaining weight. 

A study published in the Journal of pediatric supports the fact that massage decreases fat deposition. Twenty-two infants (12 boys and ten girls) received a massage or control care. The results conclude that massage limits fat deposition in male infants.

Massage Removes Toxins From Your Body

The building up of toxins due to poor circulation is associated with weight gain. Toxins may affect hormones like insulin and cortisol that are involved in metabolism. They can also damage your body’s ability to burn fat by damaging mitochondrial enzymes, thus increasing the body’s weight.

They can change the circadian rhythm and increase the workload of the liver. All of these factors lead to weight gain. 

Massage improves blood circulation with the use of effleurage and petrissage movements, which help reduce the level of toxins from your body. A reduced level of toxins results in a lower weight of the body. Pacific College of health and science confirms its effectiveness in the removal of toxins.

Increases Range of Flexibility 

Restrictive movements and lesser flexibility result in decreased performance during exercise, restricting your calorie consumption and weight loss results. It can be due to many reasons. One of the reasons is muscle tightness. But massage also solves your problem here.

Massages reduce muscle pain and help the body to get rid of waste products.  It manipulates body soft tissues and increases body temperature. It reduces swelling and helps break adhesion. It stretches body tissues and relieves tension, thus increasing range of motion and flexibility. Increased flexibility of muscles allows you to do better exercise, which is associated with weight reduction.

An article published in the Journal of Physical Therapy science confirms that massage is beneficial in increasing the range of motion. The study involves 237 participants who receive massage therapy. The findings suggest an improved range of shoulder motion, particularly abduction and flexion.

Massage Improves Digestion

Digestion of food is the most crucial in maintaining weight. Poor digestion does not properly break down your food and results in the deposition of not properly digested food components in the body, which can cause weight gain. Poor food digestion can also be due to increased levels of stress. Massage decreases sympathetic stimulation and enhances parasympathetic stimulation, which promotes rest and digest condition. 

Furthermore, massage over the abdomen increases blood circulation to the stomach, which releases acid that promotes the breakdown of food. Massage also stimulates peristalsis, which pushes the food downward in the body towards the intestine. 

According to an article published in the Journal of Intensive care, massage improves digestive function in individuals. The study involved 60 participants hospitalized in ICU; the participants’ gastric residual volume was measured after the intervention and 1 hour of massage therapy for three days. The results suggested less gastric residual volume after the intervention than before, which concludes abdominal massage improves digestion. Massage also improves the condition of diarrhea, bloating, heartburn and constipation. 

Massage Reduce Cortisol Levels

Cortisol is usually produced in the body during stress. But its overproduction can affect the body negatively. It increases appetite, which leads to overeating. It is associated with fat deposition in the abdomen area. Both increased appetite and fat deposition are associated with weight gain.

Massage is an effective way to reduce the fat around your belly. It decreases cortisol levels. An article published in the Journal of neuroscience suggests that massage lowers cortisol levels in the body. Reduce cortisol levels, in turn, lowers appetite, reduces fat accumulation and stress, which helps to lower your weight.

Different Massages For Weight Loss

Swedish Massage For Weight Loss

A study reveals that deep tissue Swedish massage has weight-lowering effects in obese patients. Another study published in the New York Times suggests that both deep and light Swedish massage are involved in reducing cortisol levels, which is beneficial in weight reduction.

Swedish massage uses long kneading strokes or tapping on the top layer of muscle. Your massage therapist may focus on particular areas of concern. You can also expect to have a full body massage. 

Swedish massage may loosen up your tight muscles. It stimulates your nerve endings and improves blood flow. It also improves your lymph drainage. All these mechanisms collectively enhance your weight loss.

Manual Lymphatic Drainage Massage 

An article published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology confirms the effectiveness of manual lymphatic drainage massage for weight loss by decreasing regional fat values of patients with cellulitis. There were a total of 60 participants involved in the study. Twenty received mechanical massage, 20 received lymphatic drainage massage, and other 20 received connective tissue manipulations. Thigh thickness decreased by 3.03 mm in participants who received lymphatic drainage massage.

Lymph fluid is a part of the lymphatic system that helps the body to eliminate toxic materials in the body. If you have lymphedema due to any problem, you can go for a manual lymphatic drainage massage. It helps lymph in your body to move and remove toxic and metabolic wastes by using light and rhythmic movements.

A regular lymphatic massage keeps your lymphatic system healthy, which is associated with a high metabolic rate. An increased metabolic rate means high-fat burn per minute. 

Abdominal Massage For Weight Loss

Many studies suggest abdominal massage for weight loss is effective. It treats constipation, bloating, and diarrhea. It helps treat constipation by relaxing smooth muscles. It improves digestive function.

Massage For Weight Loss

A study published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice suggests that abdominal massage improves the digestive function of patients with endotracheal tubes. 70 ICU patients with endotracheal tubes were involved in the study. They either received abdominal massage or routine care. Abdominal circumference and gastric residual volume decreased in patients who received massage.

Vacuum Massage For Weight Loss 

Vacuum massage is a way to reduce cellulite. It is done by using a mechanical device that is supposed to lift the suction of the skin. The suction makes the skin fold and increases blood flow to the surface of the skin. The process also enhances lymphatic drainage and removes toxic materials from the body. It smooths irregular skin surfaces, stimulates collagen and elastin production. It boosts the immune system and allows deep tissues to relax. 

A study published in evidence-based complementary alternative medicine suggests that 60 minutes of vibration massage a week reduce cellulite.

The massage is based on the Chinese traditional medicine system. The massage session lasts 45 minutes.

Udvarthanam, An Ayurvedic Massage

It is a popular ayurvedic massage for weight loss. This massage breaks down fat in our body. The massage is also called scrub and trim. As the name suggests, it uses herbal powder; it is a deep tissue massage. It improves blood circulation, strengthens muscles, and combat body stiffness. 

There are mainly two types of udvarthanam massage.

  • Ruksha: This kind of massage uses only dry herbal powder and reduces fat under the skin and cellulite.
  • Snigadh: This kind of massage is done using dry powders and oils. It is suitable for people with sensitive skin.

Aromatherapy Massage For Weight Loss 

Research published shows that one hour of aromatherapy with some oils reduces abdominal weight and waist circumference. 

As the name suggests, aromatherapy is a kind of massage that involves rubbing essential oils onto the skin. Oils for aromatherapy are mostly obtained from extracts of flowers, leaves, fruits, seeds, and barks. 

Aromatherapy massage reduces stress and anxiety. It also improves sleep and muscle movement. It is associated with reduced appetite. It boosts immunity, treats headaches and migraines.

Leave a Comment