How to Use a Massage Gun: A Beginner's Guide to Percussion Therapy

A percussion massage gun is one of the simplest recovery tools to own and one of the easiest to use badly. Most people either press far too hard or park it on one spot for far too long. Here is how to actually use one.

How long should you use a massage gun?

The short answer: less time than you think.

• Per muscle group: 30 seconds to 2 minutes. That is enough.
• Whole session: 10 to 15 minutes total across the whole body.
• One tight knot: up to 30 seconds, then move on. Grinding away at a trigger point for five minutes causes more soreness, not less.

Keep the gun moving slowly across the muscle rather than holding it still. Think of it as ironing a shirt, not drilling a hole.

How hard should you press?

Let the gun do the work. The motor generates the percussion — your job is only to guide it. Rest it against the muscle with light pressure and let it float. If your skin is blanching white or you are bracing against the pressure, you are pushing too hard.

It should feel intense but never sharp. Discomfort is fine. Pain is a stop signal.

Before or after a workout?

Before training: 30 seconds per muscle at a lower speed. This wakes the muscle up and increases blood flow without dulling your output.

After training: 1 to 2 minutes per muscle at a comfortable speed, once your heart rate has come down. This is where most people feel the biggest difference in next-day soreness.

Rest days: perfectly fine, and often the most useful time to use one.

Which attachment head for which job?

• Ball head — the all-rounder. Large muscle groups: quads, glutes, hamstrings, chest.
• Flat head — general use on denser muscle and areas closer to bone.
• Bullet / cone head — precise work on knots and trigger points. Use sparingly and briefly.
• U-shaped (fork) head — designed to straddle the spine or the Achilles so the pressure lands on muscle, never bone.

If you are unsure, use the ball head. It is the hardest one to hurt yourself with.

Where you should never use a massage gun

This part matters more than the technique.

• Directly on bone or joints — kneecaps, elbows, spine, hips, ankles.
• The neck and throat — avoid the front and sides of the neck entirely.
• The head or face.
• Over an injury — sprains, strains, breaks, open wounds, bruises or recent surgery.
• Over varicose veins, or if you have a clotting disorder or are on blood thinners.

If you are pregnant, have osteoporosis, a pacemaker, nerve damage or any circulatory condition, speak to a doctor before using one. This article is general information, not medical advice.

A simple 10-minute routine

1. Calves — 1 minute each
2. Quads — 1 minute each
3. Hamstrings — 1 minute each
4. Glutes — 1 minute each
5. Upper back and shoulders — 1 minute each side, staying off the spine

Breathe normally throughout. If you find yourself holding your breath, ease off.

What to look for in a massage gun

Speed range matters more than a headline "percussions per minute" number — you want a genuinely gentle low setting as well as a strong one. Weight matters more than most people expect: anything much over half a kilo becomes tiring to hold at arm's length, which is exactly the position you need for your own shoulders. And noise level decides whether you actually use it: a gun loud enough to drown out the television tends to live in a drawer.

The FlexReboot Portable Deep Tissue Massage Gun has 6 speed levels, 4 attachment heads (ball, flat, U-shaped and bullet), a quiet brushless motor and a 410g body, and charges over USB-C.

The honest summary

Short sessions. Light pressure. Keep it moving. Stay off bone and joints. Used that way, a massage gun is a genuinely useful bit of kit — and used the other way, it is just an expensive bruise machine.