Ask any variety of health specialists, 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 they usually’re simply not nearly as good. The standard of the software, the depth, and energy of the motion are all superior.”
When you’re in search of a splurge-worthy therapeutic massage software so as to add to your restoration routine, Theragun looks like the apparent alternative. However when you think about simply how a lot the model’s choice has expanded just lately, making your choose could also be a bit tougher than anticipated. With fashions that include a number of attachments, travel-friendly massagers, and units that focus on exact areas of the physique, Theragun has a ton of high-quality choices—and we’ve narrowed them all the way down to the perfect right here. Learn on for our picks and to listen to from specialists about what makes these instruments—and percussive massagers usually—so common.
Our high picks
On this article
Store one of the best Theraguns
Sore calves? Tender shoulders? Knotty again? The answer to the aches and pains awaits.
Finest General: Theragun Prime
The Prime is strictly 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 value of knots in minutes,” Sarah Felbin, SELF’s senior commerce editor, says. “I at all times really feel refreshed and relaxed after utilizing it.”
Skilled therapeutic massage gun customers will admire 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 means of Therabody’s app, which seamlessly connects to the gadget.
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 together with the Reduction. It has the identical user-friendly form, however much less energy—good 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 figuring out, lengthy days the place you’re feeling a little bit sore, or simply recreationally if you really feel like you want a therapeutic massage,” Paige Levinson, SELF’s particular initiatives 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 Residence Health Award testers, take into account 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 fitness center bag or really feel exhausting to make use of for quite a lot of minutes. “The gadget makes it straightforward to work on cussed tight or achy areas whilst you’re simply sitting round,” considered one of our Award testers mentioned. “No have to get on the ground and struggle with a foam curler.”
Just like the Reduction, the Mini is one other nice possibility in case you’ve tried standard-sized therapeutic massage weapons and located their settings to be too intense. “[The Mini could] do every little thing the bigger model did, but it surely was extra compact and felt a little bit 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 after they first got here out in 2022—our tester discovered them significantly modern, straightforward to make use of, and genuinely soothing. Worn like a daily sleep masks, they include internal massaging nodes that focus on your temples, forehead bones, and in between the eyebrows. In addition they present vibration, compression, and warmth remedy throughout.
“I discovered the therapeutic massage nodes to be simply agency sufficient to ease rigidity with out creating extra ache factors, and the addition of warmth felt so soothing—particularly after an extended day,” our tester wrote in her evaluation.
Weight: 14.80 ounces | Battery life: 150 minutes | Attachments: N/A
Finest for Facial Massages: TheraFace Professional
Half pink gentle remedy gadget, half microcurrent software, half massager, all-around luxe private gadget, the TheraFace Professional is an actual deal with in 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 light massaging energy.
“The percussive attachment actually helped relieve some TMJ ache I used to be having,” they mentioned. “It was tremendous straightforward to make use of and comes with a high-quality organizing pouch that makes it good for each storage or journey. It’s so versatile—I find it irresistible!”
Weight: 3.95 ounces | Battery life: 38 minutes | Attachments: Cleaning ring, LED gentle remedy ring, microcurrent ring, three percussive attachments (cone, flat, micro-point)
Ceaselessly 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 looks like one thing is quickly hammering into your muscle groups. “Not like foam rollers or fundamental vibration instruments, percussive massagers provide deeper muscle activation and extra exact concentrating on,” Ben LaNeve, a private coach at Life Time Annapolis in Maryland, tells SELF. You’re feeling an precise influence from the gadget because it pulls away and punches again into your muscle groups, slightly 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 specialists take into account 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 properly, they usually work with specialists on an ongoing foundation to vet and refine their expertise.
“Theragun is the gold normal relating to being the lead innovator of therapeutic massage weapons and different wellness merchandise,” Dr. Busy says. “They have been the primary firm to introduce such a product and have continued to evolve their line, constantly enhancing by means of the event of latest attachments, vibration modes, and mannequin sizes.”
After all, their worth level can’t be ignored. There are many different, cheaper therapeutic massage weapons on the market that’ll get the job finished. However in case you’re firmly set on shopping for a Theragun, Therabody provides licensed refurbished fashions at diminished costs.
Your Theragun will probably be only on knots in your higher again and shoulders, as properly as giant muscle teams liable 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 properly for normal muscle teams; thumb- or bullet-shaped heads goal knots; and cushioned or dampened heads work properly with extra delicate or tender areas, LaNeve explains. “Match the software to your wants: softer heads for restoration, firmer ones for tight spots,” he says.
On the entire, therapeutic massage weapons are thought of 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 case you’re at the moment bruised or coping with an damage, keep away from utilizing your massager in these affected areas too.
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