They're the must-have tool for fitness fanatics, but do 'muscle guns' actually work – and which should you buy?

Bolstered by celebrity athlete endorsements and viral slow-mo Instagram videos of users pummelling their quads, massage guns – the ‘percussive therapy’ devices that look (and sound) a little like a power drill – have rapidly risen in popularity over the past two years, as a sharp uptick in Google searches demonstrates. 

If you care about fitness and wellness, a fitness gadget that promises to boost your performance, speed up your recovery from strength training and rid you of aches and pains certainly has its appeal. But they don't come cheap. Massage guns from leading brands such as Therabody, which manufactures the Theragun range and counts Trent Alexander Arnold and Maria Sharapova among its ambassadors, and Rihanna, Jay-Z and Marcus Rashford among its investors, start from £175 and run much higher. 

Before we get into the mechanics of whether that's a reasonable outlay, it's worth asking, for the uninitiated: what exactly is a massage gun?

“Put simply, it's a handheld device that sends vibrations through your muscle at a high frequency of around 40 percussions per second”, says Jonathan Codling, a physiotherapist at luxury health club Third Space in London. “These vibrations are called percussive therapy, which is based on the principles of massage, vibration therapy and foam rollers.” 

When used before or after a workout, many claim the ‘pummelling’ motion variously improves athletic performance, reduces your risk of injury, reduces Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and increases your range of motion by increasing blood flow to your muscles. Anecdotal evidence also suggests massage guns (also known as muscle guns) can help ease chronic pain and improve sleep.

While plenty of people report positive experience with the devices, experts maintain that there will need to be more research into the benefits of percussive therapy to say for sure. 

“The current research is a promising start,” says Sam MacGregor, clinical lead in the physiotherapy team at Loughborough University. “There are studies that prove they can increase your range of motion and reduce the self-reported feeling of DOMS, but fuller evidence for how they actually work isn’t really there yet.” 

Codling concurs. “It’s difficult to pin down because the technology is accelerating before the research is there to support it,” he says. “These devices are running ahead of the evidence which is, so far, a mixture of theory from massage brought together with some very limited studies on percussive therapy.” 

One of the problems you encounter when trying to ascertain whether massage guns work is that some of the studies cited by some brands are commissioned by the brands themselves, raising the inevitable question of bias. However, a small but growing body of evidence does look promising; for instance, a study from universities in Switzerland and Belgium has proved that two minutes of treatment increased blood flow and oxygen saturation in the muscles of participants. 

It’s surely a good sign that, even though there isn't extensive evidence to back them up, MacGregor uses massage guns with his clients. “The majority of clients I’ve used them with really recommend them,” he says. “For people who train a lot, if they use a massage gun before or after training, it really helps loosen them up.” 

After testing these devices over a period of several weeks, I'm a convert. Working from home with a subpar desk setup has built tension in my back and shoulders which 5 minutes of massage gun use seems to ease. After using them for five to 10 minutes as a warm-up tool before a workout and to cool down afterwards, I feel tangible benefits including less DOMS. 

Here’s what I found when testing the best massage guns out there, starting with my favourite...

We like: it's a powerful, easy-to-use device with the smartest app on the market

It’s no surprise that the word ‘Theragun’ has become synonymous with ‘massage gun’, as their devices are the best built and best performing out there. There are four devices in the Theragun family, which cost between £175 to £549, with the Prime sitting comfortably in the middle of the price range. 

My first impression of the Prime is wholly positive – I like the sleek, streamlined build, ergonomic handle and how easy it is to use. One button on the top of the device is used to switch it on and off and control the vibrations, which can be set at speeds ranging from 1750 to 2400 percussions per minute (PPM). It has a fair battery life of 120 minutes with continuous use. 

The reason this device excels, however, is because of the attention to detail that’s gone into the design. While most other guns have a simple stick handle, the Theragun Prime has a patented triangular handle which allowed me to get to tricky-to-reach spots, such as my shoulders and lower back, with ease. No other device I tried was as easy to hold as this. It vibrates at an amplitude of 16mm, which is perfect – it has enough of an effect to feel as though it's tackling underlying muscle tension rather than superficially vibrating against your skin, but it’s not harsh enough to feel like it could do some damage. 

The Prime comes with four attachments, and I really noticed the difference in quality here, too. Cheaper competitor brands had attachments that felt rough to the touch, like a washing up sponge, or else too hard and plastic to feel that you could really go to town with them. The Theragun attachments are made of a smooth, non-porous ‘closed cell foam’ – it felt the best against my skin, didn’t catch on my clothes and is easy to clean. 

Finally, I liked the slick Therabody app. It has features including customisable speeds and guidance on sport-specific routines for warming up, cooling down and targeting aches and pains (such as plantar fasciitis and tech neck). It’s a little loud, but that really is nit-picking.

Theragun also offer a premium model, the Theragun Pro, which sells for a distinctly pricey £549. It has an impressive range of bells and whistles including 2 lithium batteries that give a total battery life of 300 minutes, 6 attachments and a fully rotational arm, but for the casual user I wouldn't say it's worth the price hike. Unless you're a serious athlete, I'd say the Prime best balances cost effectiveness with performance. 

We like: quiet enough to use while watching Netflix

Looks can be deceiving. Case in point: the Powerplate Pulse, which isn’t the slickest-looking device out there by any means, was easily among my favourites. It’s equally popular with my family who, fed up of listening to a whirring akin to a broken washing machine while they’re trying to watch TV, relish the fact that when this device says it’s ‘whisper quiet’, it really is (especially on the lower settings). 

It offers the quickest vibration speed of any of the devices I tried, with a range of 1,300-3,300 PPM, and comes with six attachments – two standard balls of different sizes, two different sized flat attachments, an intimidating-looking fork and a thinner ‘thumb’ attachment for targeting specific problem areas.

The vibration speeds are spread across four pre-programmed options: 1,300, 1,800, 2,500 and 3,300 PPM, and all of them feel like they’re very effective in loosening muscle tension and easing aches and pains. 

The four to five hour battery life is impressive, and it only takes 120 minutes to charge fully. It has a chunky stick handle with a grippy coating. The only downside, for me, is the thickness of the handle, which made it a little bit tricky to hold on to. I prefer the Theragun’s triangular handle design, although I do believe this comes down to personal preference. 

We like: little but mighty

Massage guns truly don’t come lighter or more practical and compact than this. It weighs just 650g and still offers the same vibration speed as the other, larger Theragun models – a maximum of 2400 PPM over 3 speed settings. That's not as many options as other, full-size massage guns, but for such a lightweight device, I don't think that's a dealbreaker. 

The Mini only comes with one standard-sized ball attachment, but is compatible with all other Theragun accessories (and the Therabody app), should you wish to upgrade. 

With an amplification of 12mm, it’s not as powerful as the brand’s other full sized devices, but feels pretty close. Given that it’s the most affordable of the Theragun massage guns I tried, and the most practical, it’d still say it has a lot to offer. 

Instead of the usual Theragun triangular handle, this has an ergonomically curved grip that sits in your palm. It was easy to use for treating my quads and calves, but I didn’t find it as user-friendly as the grip on other Theragun devices for getting to hard-to-reach spots. It also has a smooth finish that looks nice but feels somewhat slippery. 

We like: simple, effective, affordable and comes with a cute little briefcase

At a fraction of the price of the Theraguns, it's tempting to ask what corners have been cut with this Chinese challenger but after using it for several weeks it's hard to find any.  The Renpho feels solid and classy. It charges quickly by USB-C cable, the type used by Samsung phones, iPads and many other smart home devices, and the battery lasts a very long time.

The business end has almost a centimetre of travel and, with five speeds ranging from thump to judder to thrum, works convincingly on big muscles (using the large ball or flat-head attachment), trigger points (using the bullet) and sensitive areas (using the cushioned head). The only one I couldn't get to grips with was the fork head, for working the spine or Achilles.

This is because the Renpho is not quite as manoeuvrable as the two Theraguns. You have to hold it by the barrel to reach some muscles and couldn't find a way to use it on my spine at all. But for chest, thighs, lower back and arms it's up there with the best of them and, at this price, certainly worth a try.

We like: lightweight and portable but still powerful enough to get results

This lightweight massage gun may be little, but it packs a punch, with five speed options from 1500-2800 PPM (a max speed of 47 percussions per second) and a stall force of 50lbs. This means you can apply 50lbs of pressure to it without stopping the motor, which is impressive for a device this size. 

Unlike other massage guns, it has something called ‘flexible adaptive strike’, whereby the head of the device moves in a small circle rather than just striking in and out – this 'omnidirectional movement' is designed to more effectively treat contoured surfaces of your body. The curved L-shape handle is comfortable and easy to hold (the curvature means it's easier to reach your back, shoulders and hamstrings than if it were a straight stick handle). 

It’s one of the lightest devices I tested at 0.7kg (second only to the Theragun Mini – see below), so it could easily be taken to the gym with you, when going to the gym is an option. It has an 180 minute battery life, which is shorter than some of the heftier massage guns (such as the Powerplate Pulse), but that's what you'd expect from a device that's lighter and so much smaller. 

It also has a handful of extras that give it an edge over competitors – it comes with four good quality attachments, a nice leather charging mat and a protective carrying case, as well as being one of the only massage guns to come in several different colourways. 

We like: smooth, quiet and looks as good as it feels

There are no two ways about it – this massage gun is a looker. It's smooth, matte design means it’s the most stylish of the bunch. It also has an incredibly impressive battery life – up to six hours per charge – and a wide range of speeds from 1400-3200 PPM (a max speed of 53 percussions per second) over five speed settings. It has an impressive stall force of 56lbs and 'quiet glide technology' that is – genuinely – quiet. It's also better value for money than comparable models.

However, I did notice a slight difference in amplitude between this and my favourite device, the Theragun Prime, which has 16mm of amplitude in comparison to Shavron’s 12mm. The result is more of a vibration across your skin, especially at a higher speed – it doesn’t feel as though it’s working deep into your muscles with as much efficacy. 

We like: powerful and app-enabled

With a max speed of 3200 PPM, five high-quality interchangeable attachments, three hours of battery life and a handy pressure sensor, this massage gun has a lot to offer in theory. Like Theragun, the Hypervolt links via Bluetooth to a handy smartphone app, which offers guided warm-up and recovery routines, tips from personal trainers and physiotherapists and Strava or Apple Health connectivity for personalised recommendations. It also feels substantial and seriously powerful, like it's really working into persistent muscle tension and knots. 

However, it only offers three speed settings, whereas most full size massage guns offer five, and I found it too heavy for my liking at 1.3kg. The handle is seriously chunky and doesn't offer great grip.

If you're interested in other ways to improve your fitness, read our tried and tested guides to the best protein powders, yoga mats and fitness trackers.

We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.

We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.

Thank you for your support.

Visit our adblocking instructions page.