About a year ago, I reviewed the Hydragun. It helped me recover as I was easing back into post-lockdown exercise. Now, I’ve been using the Hydragun Atom for a similar reason – I attempted to jump back in to exercise at the level I was at prior to doing absolutely nothing.
You’re the best judge of your own body, so the following will all be my own experience and your results may differ. Please make sure you consult a medical professional before purchasing something like a massage gun.
Hydragun Atom
The Hydragun Atom is a mini version of the standard Hydragun offering. It’s billed by the company as “the perfect companion” for the gym, your office, while travelling – anywhere you want to take a massage gun but are strapped for space.
If you’ve never used a massage gun before, the feeling is an awkward one. Unlike a massage from a human, the gun doesn’t knead your muscles, it punches you, over and over, with its rapidly moving arm.
It’s meant to help you recover from sore muscles after a workout, release tension and ease postural pain from extended sitting or standing (helping to improve mobility) and bring quick relief to trigger points and chronically-aching parts of your body.
It’s a small, but mighty little massage gun that packs a punch (50 percussions per second, actually). The Hydragun Atom has an output force of 8kg.
The device is mini – Hydragun describes it as being smaller than a coke can. It measures 4.5cm and weighs 550g.
In the case, you get the Hydragun Atom, three head attachments and a charging cable. The three heads include: Ball (for “gentle and comfortable” treatment of all muscle groups; Flat (made of aluminium, for use over clothing) and Bullet (for pinpoint treatment of areas that need deeper penetration. While we’re in this space, yes, it’s so reminiscent of a vibrator and no I didn’t use it as one.
You can also choose massage intensity from three speed settings up to 3200PPM. I found the first and lowest setting was intense enough.
Post-squats lifesaver
I couldn’t tell you the last time I did a boxing class. But I went ahead and did a boxing class, with the only exercise performed within the week prior collecting 26,000 steps in one day at a music festival. The night of the boxing class, I was fine. I felt good, great even. Invigorated. Waking up the next day, I was feeling OK, walking to the bus stop then the office without concern. About halfway through the day it was if my legs all but gave out.
Sitting at my desk, then getting up to walk, was difficult and I was pretty much waddling the whole way home.
I had the Hydragun Atom so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to test out recovery on my legs, focusing on one area only.
I used the Atom on my right leg, focusing on the top of my thigh – the rectus femoris, as a matter of fact. I found the flat head was best for this area, given it was a larger, somewhat flat space.
The head heated up a little while I was focusing on the one area with the Hydragun Atom, but it wasn’t uncomfortably warm. When I compare how the Hydragun Atom felt on my actually sore thighs vs a place on my body not actually in pain, there was a massive difference. It felt more relaxing on the other parts of my body, and once treating the area, the leftover vibration in my muscles left me comfortable, feeling almost like I had been lounging around a pool on a warm summer’s day. Relaxed I think people call that feeling.
Treating an area that was in pain, however, left me feeling a little tender. There wasn’t really much of an instant relief – rather a gradual one. A few hours later, I could tell the difference between the treated leg and the left one that I didn’t use the Hydragun Atom on. Before bed, I used the massage gun on my right leg again, but this time the whole leg, focusing on the areas affected by the squats pain.
I woke up the next day and there was quite a difference in feeling walking around out of bed. I had to give up on the experiment and decided to use the Hydragun Atom on the left leg, too. I will do a lot for content, but I was too sore. It was clear, however, that using the gun did a world of good for the right leg.
Every day use
In addition to the three heads, you can also choose from three speeds. I found the lowest speed was enough, but I am far from an athlete and my exercise was far from intense.
While in recovery from the squats (as detailed above), the Hydragun Atom proved beneficial, it also allowed me to relieve some tension from my muscles on the days I wasn’t using it to ease pain.
I got lost in a rabbit hole trying to learn how exactly massage guns work last year, with theories spanning the vibrating gun sending pulses of happiness to your brain, so placebo effect, and a logical, it “un-stresses” your muscle, therefore making you feel less tight. All I can tell you is that my thighs stopped burning and I was able to walk straight and that on days I was using it to ‘relax’, I achieved exactly that.
I also can report no bruising and no burns, but my arm felt a little funny after holding the vibrating gun for so long, but nowhere near as bad as I thought it would, this is where the quality of the gun also shines through.
Hydragun recommends no more than 10-15 minutes on each area, and this advice should be taken.
The Hydragun Atom has me sold
What I didn’t love about the larger Hydragun was the weight of the device and its size proving a little awkward for doing it yourself. The Hydragun Atom solves this, allowing me to have it sit on the lounge in its case and pull it out while I’m sitting around watching TV and then also pop it into my gym bag to use it during my ‘cool down’ routine.
The battery life is exceptional – Hydragun reckons you’ll get up to 4.8 hours and my experience is pretty on par. Charging is easy, but it takes up to 4 hours for a full charge.
On the downside, however, it’s expensive: only $50 cheaper than its full-sized brother.
Please consult your medical professional before purchasing if you have a history of pain and please, make sure you read and adhere to all safety warnings. This might be a cute little gadget but your health and wellbeing are no gimmick.