Enter the massage gun, a handheld, rechargeable device that can thump away, up to 2500 times a minute, for as long as you can endure it.
“The first models were basically repurposed jigsaws,” says Tom Pepe, CEO of TimTam, one of the top players in the industry. But recently, manufacturers have refined them in response to the burgeoning demand for fancy recovery tools (think knobby foam rollers, cryotherapy, and e-stim). “We started in 2016, with 500 units, and we sold them out, to 30 countries in 40 days,” says Pepe. In the last year, he sold nearly a million of them.
Give a massager a try—run it over your upper traps, quads, calves, or any other tight muscle group—and it’s easy to see why they’re so popular. Within a few minutes, a massage gun can effectively work over a large muscle group, loosening tissue, increasing blood flow, and temporarily easing pain and soreness.
And you don’t have to tip them at the end.
But will pounding on your muscles actually aid you in your quest to build muscle, burn fat, and lift more weight? And are they worth the (sometimes significant) price?
The short answer: it’s not entirely clear how these devices work on the body. They may help relax sore muscles by stimulating the GTO (Golgi tendon organ), a structure within a muscle that inhibits contraction. Massage guns may also override the sensation of pain within a sore muscle in the same way you might if you rub your forehead after smacking it on a door jamb (this is what’s known as the “Gate Control Theory of Pain.”)
But the most likely mechanism of soft tissue work—whether it’s a foam roller, a massage gun, or the trained hands of a massage therapist—is neural, says performance coach and physical therapist, Dr. John Rusin. “Mostly you’re affecting your brain’s ability to sense tightness or laxity in soft tissue, whether it’s a muscle, tendon, or fascia.” The therapist’s hands (or the roller, or the massage gun) focuses your attention on the tight muscle allowing your brain to zero in on the tension and let it go.
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Vibration vs. Percussion
If you’ve ever used a vibrating foam roller or platform, you’re familiar with vibration therapy: you mount the unit, push a button, and let the device shake your fillings out. The back-and-forth oscillation is small, creating a pleasant, miniature muscle-quake inside the target tissues.
Early massage guns worked in a similar manner, vibrating the muscle to help it relax and stimulate blood flow. More recent models go beyond vibration, penetrating an inch or more into the target muscle: “It’s like a muscle jackhammer,” says Los Angeles-based massage therapist Art San. That’s percussion: a deeper, more intense stimulation of the muscle.
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Effects of Massage Guns
Early research suggests that, when performed before exercise, vibration therapy is as effective at preventing soreness as traditional massage in untrained women. Does that mean it’s “effective” at preventing or relieving soreness, period? It’s not clear.
Massage guns increase blood flow, which shuttles nutrients into the muscle while also removing blood that may have pooled in the muscles—a common occurrence, often following long periods of inactivity, that can result in swelling in the extremities. If you use the gun directly after a workout, it may facilitate the removal of metabolites—waste products—associated with exercise, which can cause burning in the muscles.
“It’s an out-with-the-bad, in-with-the-good effect,” says Rusin, similar to what you can achieve with foam rolling, yoga, and light exercise.
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Best Ways to Use the Massage Gun
“With massage guns, a little goes a long way,” says San, who works with MMA fighters, NFL players, and other elite athletes. 1-2 minutes on a large muscle group—like the quadriceps—is plenty.
“You don’t want to over-stimulate the muscle,” he explains. Excessive use drives fluid into the muscle without allowing it to flow out again. “It’s a powerful tool, so keep it on a low setting.” Higher settings are reserved for truly massive folks, he explains—NFL linemen and other heavyweights.
Rusin suggests that novelty is part of the tool’s effectiveness and that the effects may diminish with frequent use. So instead of using the massager every day, rotate your approach: foam roll one day, use contrast baths on another, the massage gun on a third day, and so on.
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How NOT to use a Massage Gun
“The no pain, no gain mentality is a real thing,” says Rusin. If a cool compress is good, many dedicated exercisers believe that dry ice must be better; if a soft foam roller is effective, a hard, knobby one must be more so.
This is particularly true of the massage gun. “People find areas that hurt and think that means they need to stay on them,” he says. “In fact, they may be running over a bony prominence, or a vein-artery nerve bundle.” Long-term, he says, pounding on these vulnerable areas can lead to neuropathy, numbness in the hands, and other problems.
San agrees: “The massage gun is no match for a skilled massage therapist.” It can’t tell the difference between bone, muscle, fascia, and nerve; it doesn’t know if you’re injured; it doesn’t know if a tissue is too tight or too loose.
The upshot: don’t get too trigger-happy with the massage gun. Avoid painful areas, and spend at most couple of minutes after a workout—or on rest days—on each muscle group. Ideally, San suggests using them as an adjunct to working with a professional massage therapist. “It complements what I’m doing,” he says.
