Health x Wellness

Hail Hydragun, goodbye DOMS

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The ongoing pandemic has led to many people adapting to different routines including work from home, exercising outdoors and also trying out new sports. This has contributed to various aches, sore muscles and pains that just does not seem to disappear. Enter the sports recovery device.

The massage gun, based on percussive technology, has been gaining in popularity with both athletes and mainstream customers. Designed to combat Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), massage guns provide quick and direct muscle pain relief to sore or tired muscles.

According to Healthline, DOMS is muscle pain that starts a day or two after a workout. It is called by high-intensity exercise that creates small tears in the muscle fibers. Our body responds to these tears by increasing inflammation. This leads directly to DOMS. Symptoms include tender muscles, reduced range of motion, fatigue and short-term loss of muscle strength.

Singapore-based company Hydragun set out to solve this problem and created a high-quality therapy device that works for the fitness enthusiast, regardless of their actual fitness level. Enter the massage gun. It works for anyone that is looking for pain relief, especially from sore or stiff muscles. This can be caused by bad posture while working from home, especially when coupled with using the computer for long times, to those engaging in regular sports.

The product Hydragun (same name as the company) is a device that uses percussive massage as a form of therapy. Percussive massage works by sending rapid but concentrated pulses deep into the tissues. This induces rapid blood flow specifically to the soft tissues of ligaments, tendons and muscles throughout the body. The increased blood flow results in pain relief, and an increase in range and motion.

Hydragun walk-through

Hydragun

The Hydragun unit comes with the gun, a charger and 6 different massage head attachments. The gun is made of aerospace-grade aluminum shell and weights about 1kg. It comes with 6 different speed settings with a maximum RPM of 3,200. Hydragun shares that this is the highest in the market currently.

The gun is also quiet. We have tried it at the fastest speed setting and it is no louder than a floor fan at top speed or half the sound of a vacuum cleaner.

Hydragun

The gun has a built-in battery that takes about 3 hours to charge, and provides about 6 hours of usage. The gun has a chip that instructs the device to turn off automatically after 10 minutes of use.

There is a handy booklet that shares tips on how to optimise use of the gun as well as which massage heads are good for various scenarios.

The Ball head is for larger muscle groups (glutes, quads, calves, lats, traps). The three Flat heads are for recovery for particularly sore muscles. The larger surface area provides a bigger spread and helps increase blood flow. The Y-shaped Fork head is for deeper penetration on medium muscle groups (forearms, calves, shoulders). The Bullet head is used for the inner joints, feet, or for deeper penetration and releases tightness in a particular point on the body.

Hydragun
Hydragun
Hydragun

Size-wise, the gun is quite handy and would easily fit into a gym bag, or a haversack. Hydragun has provided their own carry bag as well. Given that that heaviest item is the gun, the total bag probably comes in at under 1.3kg. This is probably the same weight as a generic laptop.

Hydragun
Hydragun

We spoke with the Hydragun team to understand more about their new product.

the Active Age (AA): What’s the inspiration and background story of the Hydragun?

Hydragun (H): We live in a culture of the Hustle and we celebrate those who push themselves to the limits. At HYDRAGUN, we know that the endless grind can leave us all mentally and physically exhausted. But we don’t quit. Instead, we believe in recovery. The cycle of recovery and hustle is how you live to fight another day. Because in the end, sports is not just about winning once—it’s about LONGEVITY in the game.

What we want to do at HYDRAGUN is to help people break their limits, surpass themselves, and become better sportsmen and overall humans.

We are a sports recovery brand, and beyond our flagship percussive massage gun, we want to bring together a community of like-minded individuals, who value physical fitness, sports recovery and mental wellness. We want to share knowledge, share inspiring stories, and lift everyone up through our shared passions and commonalities, in spite of our differences.

AA: Can you share some points about the ergonomics of the Hydragun design and attachments?

H: The HYDRAGUN has a 99-degree handle, which provides optimal angle alignment between forearm, wrist and handle. This allows maximal push exertion. In other words, users do not need to exert a lot of strength to achieve the same intensity of massage. This natural grip angle, along with how the handle is wrapped in nanoscale silicone, provides an excellent grip, making it comfortable to hold the HYDRAGN, and preventing unnecessary strain of the bones or tendons in the hand.

With the 99-degree handle, users may find hard-to-reach spots on their backs easier to reach. This helps with self-administration of your massage, without the need of relying on another person for assistance.

The HYDRAGUN comes with a total of 6 attachable heads – from flat heads to pinpoint massage heads. This provides varying pressure for different muscle groups and types of massages. Some of the attachments worth mentioning are the flat heads and the big ball head. 2 of the flat head attachments are made of steel, this helps the HYDRAGUN to glide over your clothes very smoothly.

AA: Why does the Hydragun come with a built-in stop time of 10 minutes per session?

H: The HYDRAGUN is pre-set to automatically turn off after 10 straight minutes of use as a safety feature.

While a 90-minute massage session by a massage therapist feels amazing, we have found 10 minutes to be sufficient for a deep satisfying massage with the HYDRAGUN. You may also wish to note that we do not recommend using the massage gun on any one spot for longer than two minutes.

It is also recommended that you let the device rest for every 10 minutes of continuous use. The internal chip in the HYDRAGUN that turns the device off after 10 minutes also prevents overuse and overheating of internal electronics.

If you need to use it for longer, you can simply turn the device back on.

AA: What’s an insider tip for the best attachment to use for a) a specific scenario b) muscle and c) ache?

H: The ball head is a great attachment to use for the larger muscle groups (e.g. glutes, quads, calves, lats and traps). This is also suitable for heavy computer users in their muscle groups in the neck, shoulders and back, especially in areas where there are soreness or knots.

For sports athletes with particularly sore muscles, the flat heads are extremely useful. The large surface area helps to increase blood flow and aids in recovery of the muscles.

The fork head and bullet head are great for deeper penetration, releasing tightness with dual-point and single point targeting respectively. The fork head is suitable for medium muscle groups (forearms, calves, shoulders) and the bullet head suitable for inner joints, feet.


The Hydragun is available for sale at the Hydragun website and retails for SGD 399. There is a 30-day return policy as well as a 1.5 year warranty period. Delivery is provided within 2 business days from order and confirmation.

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