Ask any variety of health consultants, and most will inform you that one of the best Theraguns actually are a minimize above the remaining. “I’ve used them since they hit the market years in the past,” Darleen Marshall, CPT, a NASM-certified private coach, tells SELF. “I’ve had different manufacturers and so they’re simply not pretty much as good. The standard of the device, the depth, and energy of the motion are all superior.”
When you’re searching for a splurge-worthy therapeutic massage device so as to add to your restoration routine, Theragun looks like the apparent selection. However when you think about simply how a lot the model’s choice has expanded not too long ago, making your decide could also be a bit tougher than anticipated. With fashions that include numerous attachments, travel-friendly massagers, and gadgets that concentrate on exact areas of the physique, Theragun has a ton of high-quality choices—and we’ve narrowed them right down to the easiest right here. Learn on for our picks and to listen to from consultants about what makes these instruments—and percussive massagers usually—so well-liked.
Our high picks
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Sore calves? Tender shoulders? Knotty again? The answer to the aches and pains awaits.
Finest Total: Theragun Prime
The Prime is precisely what we consider once we consider a Theragun: highly effective, easy to make use of, and extremely efficient. “My neck and shoulders are continually tense—one fast session with the Prime can unravel every week’s price of knots in minutes,” Sarah Felbin, SELF’s senior commerce editor, says. “I all the time really feel refreshed and relaxed after utilizing it.”
Skilled therapeutic massage gun customers will recognize the Prime’s triangular form, which is way simpler to maneuver than historically formed fashions (“I can goal my higher again with out doing my finest contortionist impression,” Felbin says). And people who need extra steering round utilizing their Prime can discover its capabilities by way of Therabody’s app, which seamlessly connects to the system.
Weight: 2.18 kilos | Battery life: 120 minutes | Attachments: Ball, dampener, micro-point, thumb
Finest for Theragun Newbies: Theragun Reduction
When you don’t want all of the bells and whistles however nonetheless need the complete Theragun expertise, go along with the Reduction. It has the identical user-friendly form, however much less energy—excellent for newcomers who would possibly discover the Prime overwhelming on the utmost setting.
“My dad is a licensed therapeutic massage therapist and swears by the OG Theragun Reduction for myofascial launch after understanding, lengthy days the place you’re feeling somewhat sore, or simply recreationally whenever you really feel like you want a therapeutic massage,” Paige Levinson, SELF’s particular tasks coordinator, says.
Weight: 1.37 kilos | Battery life: 120 minutes | Attachments: Ball, dampener, thumb
Finest for Journey: Theragun Mini
A number of SELF staffers, in addition to SELF House Health Award testers, contemplate the Mini their holy grail for on-the-go muscle reduction. Clocking in at lower than a pound and operable with one hand, it received’t crush your health club bag or really feel exhausting to make use of for quite a lot of minutes. “The system makes it simple to work on cussed tight or achy areas whilst you’re simply sitting round,” one in all our Award testers mentioned. “No must get on the ground and battle with a foam curler.”
Just like the Reduction, the Mini is one other nice choice in the event you’ve tried standard-sized therapeutic massage weapons and located their settings to be too intense. “[The Mini could] do every thing the bigger model did, nevertheless it was extra compact and felt somewhat gentler,” Christa Sgobba, SELF’s director of health and meals, says.
Weight: 14.10 ounces | Battery life: 150 minutes | Attachments: Ball, dampener, thumb
Finest for Unwinding: TheraBody SmartGoggles
We tried the SmartGoggles once they first got here out in 2022—our tester discovered them severely smooth, simple to make use of, and genuinely soothing. Worn like an everyday sleep masks, they include interior massaging nodes that concentrate on your temples, forehead bones, and in between the eyebrows. Additionally they present vibration, compression, and warmth remedy throughout.
“I discovered the therapeutic massage nodes to be simply agency sufficient to ease pressure with out creating extra ache factors, and the addition of warmth felt so soothing—particularly after a protracted day,” our tester wrote in her evaluate.
Weight: 14.80 ounces | Battery life: 150 minutes | Attachments: N/A
Finest for Facial Massages: TheraFace Professional
Half pink gentle remedy system, half microcurrent device, half massager, all-around luxe private gadget, the TheraFace Professional is an actual deal with on your self-care routine. It received a 2023 Wholesome Magnificence Award for simply how a lot it might do for our tester in a single fell swoop. They famous its smoothing and depuffing results, in addition to its mild massaging energy.
“The percussive attachment actually helped relieve some TMJ ache I used to be having,” they mentioned. “It was tremendous simple to make use of and comes with a high-quality organizing pouch that makes it excellent for each storage or journey. It’s so versatile—I like it!”
Weight: 3.95 ounces | Battery life: 38 minutes | Attachments: Cleaning ring, LED gentle remedy ring, microcurrent ring, three percussive attachments (cone, flat, micro-point)
Incessantly requested questions on Theraguns
What are the advantages of percussive therapeutic massage?
Percussive therapeutic massage is notably completely different from different therapeutic massage instruments within the sense that it seems like one thing is quickly hammering into your muscle groups. “In contrast to foam rollers or fundamental vibration instruments, percussive massagers supply deeper muscle activation and extra exact focusing on,” Ben LaNeve, a private coach at Life Time Annapolis in Maryland, tells SELF. You are feeling an precise affect from the system because it pulls away and punches again into your muscle groups, fairly than sustaining fixed contact with them, Marshall notes.
The results of this propulsive therapeutic massage is extra relaxed, broken-up scar tissue in our muscle groups and elevated blood to the world that’s being massaged, Eric Busi, DPT, an orthopedic bodily therapist at Maven Bodily Remedy & Efficiency in Santa Monica, California, tells SELF. That’s why consultants contemplate therapeutic massage weapons to be so helpful for warm-ups and restoration routines: Earlier than your exercise, they will stimulate circulation and assist your muscle groups loosen up. Afterward, they will break down set off factors and ease soreness, Dr. Busi says.
What makes Theragun so particular?
Theragun was one of many very first names in therapeutic massage weapons—they did it early, they did it nicely, and so they work with consultants on an ongoing foundation to vet and refine their expertise.
“Theragun is the gold commonplace in the case of being the lead innovator of therapeutic massage weapons and different wellness merchandise,” Dr. Busy says. “They had been the primary firm to introduce this sort of product and have continued to evolve their line, constantly bettering by way of the event of recent attachments, vibration modes, and mannequin sizes.”
In fact, their worth level can’t be ignored. There are many different, inexpensive therapeutic massage weapons on the market that’ll get the job achieved. However in the event you’re firmly set on shopping for a Theragun, Therabody provides licensed refurbished fashions at diminished costs.
Your Theragun will likely be only on knots in your higher again and shoulders, as nicely as massive muscle teams vulnerable to soreness like your quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and forearms, LaNeve says.
Fashions that include a number of therapeutic massage heads can present completely different sensations and ranges of depth. Rounded heads work nicely for common muscle teams; thumb- or bullet-shaped heads goal knots; and cushioned or dampened heads work nicely with extra delicate or tender areas, LaNeve explains. “Match the device to your wants: softer heads for restoration, firmer ones for tight spots,” he says.
On the entire, therapeutic massage weapons are thought-about protected for most individuals to make use of—simply don’t use one instantly in your neck or over your bones, Marshall says. And in the event you’re at present bruised or coping with an harm, keep away from utilizing your massager in these affected areas too.
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