Good Vibrations: Celebrity-endorsed Theragun promises to pound the muscle pain away

If you follow athletes on Instagram, you might have seen a bunch of slow-mo clips depicting their muscles rippling like suntanned waves as they get pummelled by a handheld contraption that looks like an industrial power drill. 

That, folks, is a percussive therapy device, which claims to treat muscle soreness and speed up muscle recovery time. Instead of having a human massager to manually manipulate one’s soft tissue, the machines can apparently do the same through targeted vibration — which is a fancy way of saying that it thumps you repeatedly. But they’re powerful enough to penetrate deep layers of muscles. 

And in the niche world of massage guns, Theragun is the conductor of the hype train. 

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Theragun began as a health and wellness firm founded by chiropractor and fit daddy Dr. Jason Wersland. Everything started out in his garage in 2007, when he constructed a home-made tool to treat his muscle injury from a motorcycle accident. Years of research went into building a proper device before Theragun officially launched in 2016, culminating in a wave of celebrities like NBA star Kyrie Irving, model Ashley Graham, actor Michael B. Jordan, singer Justin Timberlake who all swear by the miniature jackhammer. 

Popular among celebrities and pro athletes Theragun may be, but scientifically, we can’t tell you for sure if it’s effective — or even worth the S$499 for the base model that just launched in Singapore yesterday. There just aren’t enough specialised studies that have found conclusive benefits of Theragun or any other massage guns like the Hypervolt and TimTam.

“Studies have shown when you use different frequencies or stimulation, it can impart different types of effects,” commented pain-management specialist and NYU assistant professor Dr. Charles Kim to New York Magazine last year. “But once again, this device and these claims have not been tested.”

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Still, there's plenty of anecdotal evidence about how good it feels to have the Theragun batter muscle knots into blissful submission. A check on social media will have fans raving about how the gadget manages to treat joint pain, relieve tension and flush out lactic acids. 

Sure, you could use a foam roller to relieve muscle tension and soreness too, but having one as portable and convenient as the Theragun could yield deeper, more efficient results due to the ability to target muscle groups. 

In any case, Theragun devices would be useful and worth the investment if you’re regularly running up bills for massages. Launched here yesterday, the Theragun liv (S$499) is a no-frills version aimed at everyday consumers that offers a simple single speed of 2,400 percussions per minute.

For the fitness nuts, there’s the pricier Theragun G3Pro (S$899), which offers two percussive speeds, swappable batteries, an adjustable arm, and way more attachments. 

The G3Pro is available for purchase now, while the liv will be stocked at Challenger, Hachi.tech, ArmourUp Asia, Red Dot Running, SixFive, and more sports and electronic stores at the end of June. 

ilyas@asiaone.com