Latest news with #BobandBrad
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Health
- Tom's Guide
Neck pain from your 'silly little emails job'? Here's 3 things I do every day after work
Like many others, my job requires me to sit at a desk for eight hours a day. After a while, that takes a toll on your neck and shoulders. While my neck still hurts, it definitely huts less than it used to. I've compiled a list of my go-to activities that alleviate neck and shoulder pain here, including a heated massage gun, regular yoga routines, and which mattress I use. I asked Tom's Guide's Fitness Editor and qualified trainer Sam Hopes for extra tips, too. If, like me, your neck always hurts, why not check out my methods? Obviously if your back pain is severe, I would recommend visiting the doctor. However, for more mild desk-job neck pain, these could be easy fixes to add into your routine. I've had the Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun for about a month now, and it's really helped me. I love the heated attachment because it soothes my painful traps without being too aggressive on them. I only use the lowest setting for my neck, shoulders, and upper back, otherwise it hurts! In my four-star review, I discuss exactly how I use it on my shoulders. I don't use the bullet or ball attachments most of the time, as I've found the heated tool is the quickest way to relieve my pain. I love this massage gun, purely because it's got a heated attachment. This is second-to-none when my back really hurts. Just make sure you keep it on speed 1, otherwise it'll be too strong and will start hurting. For those days where I'm really hurting, I also use Deep Heat, $11 on Amazon, for a little extra help. I would only use this after massaging though — definitely not before. I go to yoga classes at my local gym three times a week, but I still need to stretch my neck and shoulders after work every single day. This Yoga For Neck routine by YouTube instructor Adriene Mishler is the one I use for a super effective stretch. It's a 30-minute routine, but you don't have to do all of it to get a good stretch. Adriene starts with head rolls, which I find are great for ironing out the creases in my neck. After, she goes into puppy pose, which stretches the upper back instantly. Then, she teaches you how to do one of my favorite stretches: a shoulder twist. I find this stretch releases the tension in my shoulders like no other. While it hurts, it's definitely a good pain. Most of the time, I stop at around the 12-minute mark, but the entire routine is fantastic for helping with neck opening. If you have 30 minutes, I recommend it completely. I also found this 10 minute yoga routine that reduces neck pain, too! I asked Sam Hopes, Tom's Guide's Fitness Editor and personal trainer, for extra advice. She said this upper trap stretch is one of her favorite quick exercises for instant relief. Here's how you do it: I also go to the gym and lift weights. You can also use a resistance band to improve upper-back mobility. Remember, you need to strengthen your muscles as well as stretch them. Most of the best mattresses are incredibly expensive, especially the best mattresses for back pain. As I had to take budget into account when buying my new mattress, I wasn't able to splurge on something like at Saatva. Instead, I purchased the Nectar Classic Memory Foam mattress, which used to be our top memory foam mattress (until it got usurped by the Nectar Premium!). This mattress is oh-so comfy. It's firm without being too firm, and means that I never wake up in pain like I used to. Twin: $349 | Queen: $649 | King: $849 Nectar offers a 365-night trial, so if you don't like the mattress, you can return it, no questions asked. There's also a 10-year warranty, which I find incredibly relieving. I'm 6 months into using this mattress, and I still look forward to getting into bed just to feel its memory foam envelop me and relieve my back pain.
Tom's Guide
7 days ago
- Health
- Tom's Guide
Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review: Super-powered, mini-sized
Although I love my job, I have to admit that sitting at a laptop for eight hours a day takes a toll on my neck. My post-work yoga classes help a little, but my upper back is usually suffering by the end of the week. Some of the best massage guns have unique features like heat and ice tools, and the Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini is one of them. It comes with five attachments, one of which is a heat tool capable of reaching 107°F (42°C). The M7 Plus Mini is a pretty powerful device, with a maximum amplitude of 9mm and a top RPM of 3,000. I tested this massage gun for three weeks on myself and my boyfriend, who is an avid runner and weightlifter. While the M7 Plus Mini proved a little too powerful on some occasions, it could be the perfect tool for those with super tight muscles. Find out the full story in this Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review. Price $89 / £69 Dimensions 5.3 x 3.35 x 1.9 inches Weight 14 ounces Speed 2,000 RPM - 3,000 RPM Amplitude 9mm Battery USB-C rechargeable, 1 hour on max speed Colors Black Attachments Heat/blue light head, Ball head, U-shaped head, Air Cushion head, Bullet head The Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun is $89 from Amazon U.S. and £69 from Amazon U.K. This $89/£69 price places it at the cheaper end of Bob and Brad's line. At the other end of the spectrum is the $299 Bob and Brad D6 Pro Plus, which has a 16mm amplitude compared to the M7 Plus Mini's 9mm. Alternatively, the cheapest massage gun from Bob and Brad is the $69 Q2 Max, which has a metal head and 7mm amplitude. Seeing as the M7 Plus Mini is often on sale for around $59, I think if you can snag this product for that price, then it's a fantastic deal. The M7 Plus Mini is powerful and versatile; I especially made use of the heated head on my stiff neck. Well, it almost goes without saying that the M7 Plus Mini is going to be lightweight — the clue is quite literally in the name. Even so, this massage gun is markedly lighter than alternatives. The $299 D6 Pro Plus is a pretty hefty 44 ounces and the $69 Q2 Max is 15 ounces, which makes the M7 Plus Mini light, considering alternatives. The Hyperice Hypervolt Go 2 ($149) is 24 ounces, although it has much better battery life of 180 minutes compared to the M7 Mini Plus's 60 minutes, so I guess that's the tradeoff. Thanks to its low weight of 14 ounces, the M7 Plus Mini is easy to handle and maneuver. I was able to massage my shoulders without needing to twist around uncomfortably. When I was using the massage gun on my boyfriend's back, I was able to hold it up for long periods without tiring. You turn the massage gun on with a small sunken button on the main cylinder of the gun itself. The button needs to be held down for two seconds to be turned on and off, which I found quite annoying. I'd rather it be turned on by a double press or a single press, and then turned off with a double press. Unlike the super-cheap unbranded massage gun I'd been using before, cycling through the speed settings is circular, so it doesn't turn off when you reach the highest speed. This means it's easy to flit between settings depending on muscle soreness. I'll discuss the functionality of all the heads in the 'Performance' section below, but here's a quick run down: Heat/blue light head, Ball head, U-shaped head, Air Cushion head, Bullet head. I mostly used the ball head for my shoulders and the heat head for the really sore muscles. As the M7 Plus Mini's slowest speed is 2,000 RPM, it's still pretty intense even at its weakest. I found the M7 Plus Mini to be most comfortable when it was running out of battery. Maybe I just have really sensitive muscles. The M7 Plus Mini goes up to 3,000 RPM, which is intense. This was too much for both my boyfriend and me, but could be good for runners or larger muscles, like the quads or biceps. I found the air cushion head to be more tolerable at higher speeds, as it's kind of like a bellow/ball combination. There wasn't too much pressure on the surface as it's made of a bouncy material. Quite conveniently for me (but not for him), my boyfriend pulled a muscle in his shoulder about halfway through my testing period. This meant I could actually put the massage gun to work on tender muscles. For this, I started with the heat head to warm up the area. Note: You have to charge the heat head separately from the massage gun itself. It has a USB-C port for charging. After warming up the area with the heat head, I used the ball head over the sore area. I considered using the bullet head, but I thought it would be too painful, as it's a concentrated surface area and therefore more intense. This continued for about five days, and then I started using the bullet head on the sore area. My boyfriend reported that this was too intense on the muscle, even on the weakest setting and resorted to his old faithful: a tennis ball and a wall (where you put the ball against the sore muscle and stand against a wall, therefore releasing the tension). The lowest power is 2,000 RPM, which is 250 RPM faster than the Theragun Mini's weakest speed of 1,750 RPM. While it's a good thing that the M7 Plus Mini is powerful, I think it should have a wider range. Having a max RPM of 3,000 is fantastic for people who want to be pummelled by a massage gun, but I think it's worth having a very weak setting for those a little more sore or frail than others. The $399 Hyperice Hypervolt 2 Pro has a lowest speed of 1,700 and a max amplitude of 14mm, so this could be a better option for those requiring a softer speed for sore muscles. However, it's incredibly expensive at over $300 pricier than the M7 Plus Mini. While this isn't relevant to performance in a fitness way, I'm just going to briefly mention the heat head/blue light head. Bob and Brad claim that the blue light attachment can be used for 'skin whitening.' Ethics aside, the M7 Plus Mini is a fitness-oriented product designed by physiotherapists, not a skincare-focused product designed by dermatologists. As a result, I'd be wary of using the blue light attachment for skincare. Whether the M7 Plus Mini is for you depends on, well, you. For me, I found the lowest speed to be a little too powerful on my traps and rhomboid major (the two places I suffer from aches due to hunching over my laptop for 40 hours a week). However, when my boyfriend was uninjured, he found the weakest speed fine for ironing out muscle pain after weightlifting and running. My favorite attachment was the heat head, and I found myself using this more than any other head. I think this is a very well-priced massage gun for its power, but if you're particularly susceptible to painful muscles, I think a product with a larger speed range would be better. For that purpose, I'd recommend the Bob and Brad Q2 Max or the Theragun Mini. For most people, though, the M7 Plus Mini is a perfect first massage gun.
