There are a lot of things that just plain feel good no matter what kind of person you are.
Laying down and closing your eyes after a long hard day, a cold drink after being out in the sun for a while and, of course, a massage. When your body is telling you it needs a little luxury, it isn’t wrong to treat yourself a little. Whether it’s relaxation, indulgence or self care, giving yourself a little something nice every now and then is one of the keys to low stress living and one of my long-time indulgences is massage. Now, I can’t go get a full body massage every day, that is way too expensive for me, plus I’m not terribly fond of the whole “laying on a table mostly exposed” thing, so I started looking for a good massage product early on in life. I went through the standard stuff, the foot rollers, the shiatsu massage neck bands, the massaging chair mats, nothing really did the trick. Generally speaking most massage products are just vibration and that simply isn’t enough. After the umpteenth cheap massage purchase turned out to be a bust, I finally started looking into the more expensive, more physical therapy focused products and that’s when I found the Theragun.
No tepid vibration here, just hardcore percussive massage. When I decided to bite the bullet and buy my first Theragun I was blown away by how much better it was than the rest of the massage product ecosystem. This thing hits hard and gets deep into muscles. I bought it around the third generation before cheap knockoffs of this type of percussive massage gun started flooding the market. It was truly mind blowing at the time and it became a daily staple for me. If I sat at the desk all day and wound up sore, Theragun. If I went for a long walk and found my knees aching, Theragun. I’m not kidding when I say I use this thing literally every day. It became my official number one on my list of little luxuries and it wasn’t long until I wanted to try the newer nicer ones. Eventually I bequeathed my original to my sister and splurged on the upgrade, so let’s talk about the wonders of the Theragun Prime, 6th generation.
A Tool to Mend Your Aching Muscles
If you don’t know what percussive therapy is, let’s go over the very basics. Percussive therapy is fast, targeted muscle massage delivered via a piston with a massage attachment at the end. Unlike getting a massage by hand where your muscles are kneaded and pressed on, something like the Theragun basically punches your muscles in one spot over and over again extremely quickly. While this sounds like it wouldn’t feel nice, it’s incredibly efficient at tackling sore muscles, and it feels absolutely divine.
By being able to point the massage energy in one focused spot, it becomes simple to target specific areas that are causing pain like tense shoulders after a long day at the desk or sore calf muscles after a run. It also makes self-administering massage much easier. A lot of massage products are either spread out and general (like massage chairs) or too specifically targeted at a single part of the body (like shiatsu massage neck bands). The Theragun can be pointed at just about any spot that’s giving you trouble, and the design makes it easy to hold against almost every part of your body without needing another person’s help. A big part of that is the amazingly smart handle design, which gets us into the engineering of this tool.
Man This Thing Looks Funny
At first glance, the Theragun looks kinda odd. It’s not just a handle with a massage attachment, it’s a strange triangle shape with a massage head popping out at a weird angle. Once you have it in your hand and you’re thinking, “man I really need to point this thing at my shoulders, how do I hold it right to do that,” the genius of the design becomes suddenly clear. Each angle of the triangular handle design is meant to help you hold it at the right angle to target hard to reach muscles on yourself. The angle near the head is great for holding it against the upper and back sides of the shoulder and the triceps, the bottom angle is great for comfortably holding it against the top of the thigh, the calf and ankles and the back angle is great for hitting easy areas like the chest and front of the shoulders. I’m just tickled to death over neat engineering like this and I can’t tell you just how useful the triangle grip is.
What Else Can it Do?
Ok, so it is easy to hold and it beats your muscles up in a lovely way. What else? Well for starters, the head of the device, the part you’re actually pressing against your body, is interchangeable. The Prime comes with two heads, the dampener and the “standard ball,” both of which are made from a super high density foam so it won’t be leaving any bruises, thank goodness. There are other heads you can pick up like the thumb attachment for targeting tight knots, an extra large ball for big areas like the glutes and chest, a supersoft head for tender areas (I use this on my temples when I have a headache and oh my god it’s a miracle) and a wedge shaped attachment that I haven’t fully figured out how to use but it says it’s for “flushing and scraping therapy” which just sounds kinda scary.
It also has 5 speed settings which makes it easy to adjust between muscle groups and to deal with heavy stuff like workout repair and simple stuff like relaxation. On top of all that, the Prime is designed for clumsy folks like me who have a knack for dropping things. It is impact resistant and can handle drops from up to 10 feet (I assume for those of us who like to balance on the back of the couch while massaging ourselves?)
Apparently it also has Bluetooth connectivity so you can use it with the “Coach” app which can read your activity data to create massage routines tailored to your specific needs, but that’s something I don’t really see the need for so let’s chalk that up to me not being a serious athlete who doesn’t really understand the need for that sort of thing.
This thing is pretty well appointed for a device under $400. For $329.99 you can’t really do much better than this.
TL/DR Specs for You Article Skimmers
Here are the basic specs for those of you who don’t need all the talk.
- Model: Theragun Prime (6th Gen)
- Type: Percussive massage gun
- Speed Settings: 5 levels
- Battery Life: About 120 minutes
- Weight: 2 lbs
- Connectivity: Bluetooth app support
- Attachments: 4 included
- Handle: Ergonomic triangle grip
- Charging: USB-C
- Price: $329
Is it Really Worth the Cost?
Yes. Yes, it is. Look, I know money is tight these days and coming up with $330 for a massage gun is tough, but I cannot begin to tell you how much use I’ve gotten out of my Theraguns. It’s a well-made product that will last for years and it works absolute miracles on sore muscles. It’s so good that it has even improved my mood over-all because I’m just not as sore and miserable as I used to be before I bought it. Trust me, if you’re on the fence about buying a Theragun, seriously consider it. Start with a cheaper model if you have to but man oh man is it worth the money.
About the Author:
Ever since a young George was disappointed with a toy that did match up to the advertising, he became a tireless advocate for consumers. He’ll review anything that folks have to spend their hard-earned dollars on. George is grateful that he gets to use his skills as a writer and an artist to help connect with consumers and help them make the best decisions possible.
This article is for informational purposes only and reflects the author’s independent opinion. Readers should verify details directly with the manufacturer or retailer before making a purchase decision.
