Gym CultureDecember 10, 2019

Top 5 Percussion Massage Guns

LaDonna Elms

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We have to admit we were skeptical about massage guns. Our magazine has been around for over 80 years. We have been in the world of weightlifting all our lives. We know the ins and outs of sore muscles. Iron Man Magazine has seen it all from the standing massagers you would strap around your waist, cupping, ice baths and more. Some have proven effective and others not so much. And then enter the massage percussion guns.

How could they possibly compare to athletic trainers or a proper trip to a masseuse? But when NBA teams, bodybuilders, weekend warriors, and even regular people kept raving to us about how great these devices were, we decided to jump on board and we gave almost every last percussion massage gun a whirl.

After months of testing, the results are in. There are the good, the great, the bad, and the holy moly, get the earplugs! On top of that, there’s research to back up the health benefits of utilizing percussion massage guns.

Percussion Massage Guns: More than a Money Grab Fad

The goal of these devices is to reduce pain and speed up recovery. “No pain, no gain” caught on for a reason: getting swole and shapely takes work. Painful work. Consistent work. This means coming back to the gym day after day, pain or no pain. This also means hoping your body recovers enough between workouts to get max results from all your hard work. Percussion massage guns (not just plain old massage guns) are proven to reduce pain and speed up recovery.

You don’t have to be an athlete, bodybuilder or fitness enthusiast to benefit or need one of these in your home. If you have chronic body aches or pains, or pain flares up after a rigorous day or gardening, cleaning or the likes, then you can benefit from a deep tissue massage delivered by a percussion massage gun. After testing with staff, we feel that everyone should have one of these in their cabinets at home to work on any achy muscles or tightness.

Similar to the benefits of spending time at a massage parlor, percussion massage guns work by increasing blood flow and decreasing lactic acid. The key is the percussive motion plus the power behind the device. The vibrations they send through your muscles break up the lactic acid crystals and the increased blood flow flushes them out while making it possible for muscle-building and repairing nutrients to rush in and do their thing. Another perk: a percussion massage helps recover range of motion lost from stiff or knotted muscles.

There are more perks to using a percussion massage gun that have been stated, but the research jury is still out on them. However, there are positive correlations thus far. For your benefit, we’ve compiled a list of our top five massage percussion picks. There aren’t any super cheap ones that made it, though. They simply lacked the power and percussion ability to be effective. Percussion massage guns need to penetrate deep into the tissue with successive high output movements (like in the 3,000 rpm range) to provide the best health and recovery benefits.

Being able to adjust the percussion speed throughout large ranges and monitor the actual number being used is also essential. You will want to find a speed that is right on the range of screaming but doable (with deep breathing), then as your body heals and/or recovers you adjust the number up for more benefits..

1. OHS Muscle Cussor – $225

Best value with maximum power and features – The Muscle Cussor is truly the all-in-one. It has the power, the battery life, and all the accessories you need for a real steal of a price tag.