All of the guns we've recommended here come with guides to help you. Our top-rated massage gun, the PowerPlate Mini+, also has a smartphone app with video tutorials. Move slowly up and down the length of the muscle for around 30 seconds – if you find a particularly sore spot (or ‘trigger point’), spend a little more time on it, but there's no need to apply more pressure. Try not to wince.

The compact device comes with a sleek little travel case, with enough room to fit all the accessories, so you can easily take it to the gym or shove it in your suitcase if you’re jetting off on holiday. Used for pinpoint muscle treatment and smaller muscle groups like hands and feet, it allows you to dig deep into the tissues. It’s great for trigger point massage, but shouldn’t be used for longer than 15 seconds per muscle area. For this very same reason, it probably won’t be the one you use the most. Generally, a higher price tag will indicate a more reliable product and, when fully charged, a decent massage gun should last for a few days to a week, based on around 15 minutes' use per day. Men's Health Lab Approved Our experts at the MH Lab tested the mettle of the best massage guns on the market. And, as the list below shows, they were more than up to the challenge.When using your Pro Massage Gun, you can simply choose one of the 6 available attachment heads, then place the gun on the desired muscle area and let the pulses do the work. Make sure to avoid running the machine over bones and joints, and if it hurts decrease the pressure. He recommends moving slowly across the muscle, around 1-2 inches per second. How We Test Massage Guns Use in a similar way to a foam roller; either before exercise to activate muscles and increase blood flow, or after to release tension and prevent DOMS. Or, simply when you feel your shoulders creeping up towards your ears and tension setting in. The Women’s Health Lab has put some of the top massage guns to the test to bring you its favourites for banishing post-workout pain. When buying a massage gun, the best one comes down to personal preference. But as a rule of thumb, you’ll want to consider power, design, portability and battery life.

Now that you know how to use all the massage gun heads, you’re ready to go! Don’t forget to experiment and find out what feels best and works best for you. Each massage gun was trialled for a three-week period, used to prime and relieve our experts' muscles around their fitness-filled schedule of weightlifting, HIIT, running, yoga and more. As for cheaper massage guns, these tend to have harder attachment heads (which make for a slightly less comfortable experience), a shorter battery life, or are less durable. If there's a choice between a cheap muscle gun and a more expensive massage gun that's on sale, we'd always suggest going with the one that looks like it will last the longest and is the most specced out. If it comes with a warranty, even better. Do massage guns work? The Power Plate Mini+ ranks highly in our best massage gun list thanks to its sheer convenience. It's one of the smallest guns we've tested, but its highest power settings still deliver a powerful massage that'll really help loosen tense muscles.

How we tested

The muscle guns below, marked with our Women’s Health Lab Approved logo, have been put to the test in our lab. Our expert tester has trialled them over a three-week period, using them around their hectic exercise schedule — made up of weightlifting, running, HIIT, yoga and more — to see how well each one helped muscles to recover.