Zero-Gravity is a feature that a significant minority of massage chair models offer. Inspired by NASA, it’s a feature that sees the chair recline into a position where your knees are elevated slightly above your heart. Which leaves you sitting in the chair with a genuine feeling of weightlessness.

Getting a massage in this position has a number of benefits. This is including the fact that it will help promote better blood flow, lower your blood pressure and promote faster healing after surgery. In a nutshell, it just makes for a better-quality massage that will leave you feeling better

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Airbags are bladders embedded in massage chairs that, at the touch of a button, can be filled with air then deflated in pulses.

Most massage chairs offer airbags allowing the person sitting in the chair the opportunity to adjust the intensity of the massage rendered by airbags.

Air massage is compression-based and is rendered by squeezing, holding, then releasing the extremities targeted by the massage. Inflating and deflating the airbags slowly can simulate a kneading or rolling technique while cycling rapidly between inflation/deflation can simulate a basic tapping massage.

NOTE THAT AIRBAGS ALSO PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE RENDERING OF A BODY STRETCH, IN MASSAGE CHAIRS THAT OFFER THAT FEATURE.

A human massage therapist is capable of rendering dozens of different types of massages. In fact, there are more than two hundred different techniques available. The vast majority of chairs on the market today, however, stick to a handful of basic techniques.

Here are the most common massage techniques you’ll find on the market today:

Tapping:

As the name indicates, this massage utilizes the rollers (or, in some cases, rapidly inflating/deflating airbags) a bit like little-cushioned hammers, tapping specific points on your back. It’s a good massage technique to select if you’ve got stiff muscles or poor blood circulation. It can also be used to break up scar tissue, making it a solid choice for people who have undergone surgeries. Note that tapping is often called percussive massage.

Rolling:

 Imagine a rolling pin laying against your spine, then rolling gently but firmly away from it. Focusing on the muscles there, while simultaneously moving up and down the length of your spine. That’s a rolling massage. It’s a great warm-up for some other massage programs and is ideal for loosening tight back muscles.

Kneading: 

A series of lifting and stretching motions to gently knead the tension out of the muscles in your back, neck, and shoulders. This is generally accomplished by the rollers moving in small circular motions up and down the length of your spine along with other pressure points in your body.

Shiatsu:

The three techniques described above are considered basic massage techniques and appear in virtually all massage chairs. Most high-quality massage chairs offer at least one advanced technique, and this is the most common one.

It’s a Japanese technique, and the word translates as “finger pressure.” It works by pressing, then stretching, and rotating. This is remarkably effective at relieving muscle tension and can leave you feeling restored and refreshed. It not only works to relieve muscle pain, but can also be used to alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression.

Swedish:

This technique is only rarely seen on massage chairs but is always a welcome addition when it’s present. It relies on long, swirling massage strokes to break up muscle tension and improve circulation. Note that our chairs offer a “deep tissue” massage which is essentially a more robust variant of the traditional Swedish massage. This variant is ideal for people who suffer from chronic pain.

Vibration:

This was the go-to massage “technique” offered in the very first massage chairs. You’ll still find a few chairs offering a vibration-style massage.

 Some people swear by it, claiming that it helps to foster better circulation. On the whole, we’ve found that people either love it or despise it. It’s worth experimenting with to see which camp you fall into.

Airbag (Compression) 

 If you have a massage chair with airbags, you can activate them to get an airbag massage. It’s rendered as the chair inflates and deflates the airbags in selected areas. Feels like someone with giant hands gently squeezing and releasing the muscles. Its primary purpose is to gently relieve stress and improve blood circulation. It can also help stimulate your body’s lymphatic system, making it more efficient and effective at removing toxins.

Since the massage chair is basically a computer you can sit in, the airbags can be programmed to inflate and deflate rapidly. Which can approximate a tapping-style massage and some massage chair models offer this feature.

Body Stretching

While not technically a massage style, some companies list it as such, so we’re including it here for the sake of completeness. Stretching is accomplished by the chair’s airbags holding you in place as the chair itself slowly reclines, holds, and then returns to its default position. This has the same basic effect that a chiropractic adjustment does. Also, a great way to warm up to another, more robust massage, or cool down after a hard day’s work.

There are two primary ways that heat therapy is incorporated into massage designs. The simplest and most straightforward of these involves heating elements. A few chairs use far-infrared technology to provide heat.

An S-Track is a massage track in a modern massage chair that is S-shaped to follow the natural curve of your body’s spine. While the track length varies from one model to the next, the basic idea behind an S-Track is to render a massage that begins at your neck and extends down your torso to the base of your spine.

An L-Track is a massage track in a modern massage chair that is L-Shaped. As with an S-Track chair, the massage track starts at your neck and follows the natural curve of your back down to the base of your spine. From there, the track turns, creating an “L” shape, and travels under the seat to render a massage to your glutes and the backs of your thighs.

The idea behind the term was to describe the fact that an L-Track massage is also (by definition) an S-Track. When the L-Track was first introduced, people didn’t understand right away what it was and what it meant, and our best guess is that this terminology was a good way to combined the new track type with something that people were already familiar with.

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There are no right or wrong answers here.