So you’re ready to do it. It’s time. It’s been time for a while now. You’ve gone without it for too long and you just can’t take it any more. Time for what? Time to get regular massages. At home. With your own massage chair. You’ve begun your research only to realize you don’t know what you’re reading. This isn’t relaxing. No worries, we’ve got you covered. Let the LAIDBACK store help you understand the language of massage chairs.

When you walk in to LAIDBACK you’ll be presented with a variety of massage chairs. Each one slightly….or radically different than the next. What makes them different? Use this guide to help understand what you’re looking at.

Massage Chair Rollers: Rollers are what you feel massaging your body. They’re like firm rubber balls that are attached to arms. Most chairs advertise quad rollers which are 4 individual roller “balls” attached to two arms (see image below). Some chairs have dual rollers which have only 2 roller balls.

• ADVANTAGE – Quad rollers offer a more comprehensive massage as they cover more of your body.
• ADVANTAGE – Dual rollers tend to be more intense as all the force is spread across 2 balls vs. 4.

An example of Quad rollers:

Some chairs are now offering both quad and dual rollers at the same time. An example is the Infinity Circadian. The quad rollers run under your seat and the dual rollers run up/down the back. You get double the massage with this setup!

Most chairs have foot rollers too. They don’t have the roller “balls” described above. Instead they have a cylinder which is about the width of your foot that has a series of “nubs.” As the cylinder spins, the nubs hit the foot in different places or with different intensity. Many chairs have multiple cylinders allowing for a massage in the fore-foot, mid-foot and heel.

Massage Chair Roller Track: Every quality massage chair has a track in which the rollers follow. The type of track will dictate what part of the body gets massaged. 2 types of tracks dominate today’s massage chairs – S-track, L-track – but there’s a hybrid of these options that will rapidly become the preference – Split-track.

• S-track – This track will run from the neck and shoulders down to the lower back. It essentially follows the shape of your back which is slightly curved. Found in a lot of older and some current chairs, it still offers a great massage.

ADVANTAGE – it allows for a great spinal decompression stretch because the back of the chair can flatten, or lay down, in line with the seat (like an inversion table.)

• L-track/SL-track – Found on the majority of today’s chairs, this track will run from the neck and shoulders and down your back like an S-track. It will also run the rollers under your seat. Yup, you’ll get a butt massage with this track. More people opt for the L-track because of the glute massage. There’s still a stretch offered on these chairs but it’s not as good as the S-track.

ADVANTAGE – Did we say glute/butt massage? Big muscles here and they need attention!

• Split-track – Think of this as the best of both worlds. There’s a set of rollers that run from the neck and shoulders and down your back like an S-track. There’s another set of rollers that work under your seat like an L-track. These are working at the same time so you’re getting double the massage. And, because the tracks are split, the back of the chair can flatten or lay down in line with the seat which means you get an amazing spinal stretch too! Infinity refers to this as their SynerD Dual Back Mechanism. We think Split-track is easier to say.

ADVANTAGE – The best of both worlds – a great stretch like the S-track and a glute massage like the L-track – all at the same time!

Ready to learn more? Read Part 2 where we’ll define 3D/4D, zero-gravity, compression therapy, and more!