As a safety precaution, the Mebak 3 shuts off automatically after 10 minutes of use; you can restart it immediately. To determine if continuous use would stress the motor at all, we ran the massage gun unattended for 15 minutes straight at various speeds, and we experienced no overheating. The Theragun Elite is a powerful, easy-to-use massage gun with a comfortable handle. It provides 40 pounds of pressure and has five built-in speeds, ranging from 1,750 to 2,400 percussions per minute. It also has an amplitude of 16 millimeters, which gets deeper into the muscles. Besides working out, rest days and post-workout recovery are an important aspect of having a healthy fitness routine.
The battery lasts three to six hours and consists of five speeds ranging from 1,200 to 2,800 revolutions per minute. The LED panel on the Sonic has all the speeds and battery life listed in one place, so it’s easy to read. We found the Theragun Elite was the best overall because it’s both powerful and easy to use.
The Sharper Image Deep Tissue Massager Pro is the sportsrecovery tool you deserve. The whisper-quiet drive and low-vibration ergonomichandle make this the most comfortable massager around. And its fully customizablewith interchangeable nodes for pinpoint precision, wide coverage or any focusbetween while multiple massage intensities match your body needs. Grab the carrycase and head to the gym or take that long hike up to 4.5 hours of massageper charge ensure youre always ready for recovery. Get back in the game more quickly without worry of stiff muscles. The Sharper Image Real Impact massager is the post-workout recovery tool you need and the muscle repairer you deserve.
During testing, we looked at the quality of the massage gun, its different features, the amplitude, noise levels, variability of settings and more. Use this guide to help you find the best massage gun to fit your lifestyle, budget and needs. According to our calculations massage gun has a stall force around 20 to 30 pounds maximum, and an amplitude of 8mm.
As compared to the foam roller, with a massage gun you’re able to target specific areas easier and it doesn’t require you to roll around on the floor to do so. Foam rollers are great for relieving tension in tight muscles and for lengthening the muscles in the body. However, comparing a foam roller vs massage gun is essentially comparing two different types of therapy to one another. Yes, they do offer as similar effect, but the way the pressure is applied to the body is where the difference comes into play. Foam rollers provide better myofascial release because they apply sustained pressure to an area or muscle group on the body in order to get the muscle to release the built up tension. Mini massage guns have gained popularity because they’re compact.
It probably looks smaller than most full-sized guns out there. The mounting system is push-n-pull, which tends to require a bit of force. The instructional manual is helpful if you care to read it.
The device also has an “auto” setting, which repeatedly cycles up and down through seven different speeds in quick succession. This setting added some variety and was at its best while we were holding the massage gun on a specific tight spot. The B37 turns off automatically after 10 minutes of use, a measure that a customer service rep told us protects the motor from burnout in case the B37 is accidentally left running unattended.
I’ve also had my share of physical therapy over the years. There have been two published case studies of people who have developed severe medical conditions after using massage guns. While the authors of both case studies note that causality is difficult to pin down, they advocate for additional research on massage gun safety. In professional settings, massage guns can enhance what a massage therapist, physical therapist, or athletic trainer can offer—with less wear and tear on the practitioner’s hands, wrists, and elbows. “It gets you a lot in a very short span of time,” said Ericka Clinton of the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences. If you have access to both, they both can help reduce muscle soreness, improve blood flow, and provide a release of muscle tension for the body.
Evidence shows that manual massage (using the hands only) helps decrease pain and improve function, at least in the short term. Other research has found that vibration therapy can have a positive effect on the nervous system and help prevent delayed-onset muscle soreness. But vibration therapy—a shaking or trembling sensation that can come from equipment like vibrating foam rollers—differs from the percussive massage that massage guns offer. The deep tissue sharper image massager comes with a variety of attachments for different areas of the body, a carrying case, as well as the gun itself and a charger.
If you’re really looking to compliment your fitness and activity though, we highly recommend stretching in addition to these other modalities to promote relaxation and reduced muscle tightness. Overall, after concluding the performance test, we’d say this device disappoints in performance. It is not very bad, but for the money, you can get a better device (see sharper image massage chair best alternatives below). On the bright side, it has a decent stall force and 6 speeds to cycle through the reasonably wide range. After testing the device, we figured the stall force wasn’t so bad. Massage guns are safe to use every day, as long as you use proper technique, but you don’t want to overdo it since it can reduce the benefits of the therapy.