Theragun is two-minute kryptonite for the tightest muscles in your body

If there’s one recovery gadget on the tips of stretching pros’ tongues these days, it’s Theragun, and in the latest episode of What the Wellness, show host Ella Dove learns why. While you could easily pass an hour foam rolling and stretching to loosen tightness in the body, the handheld percussive therapy tool requires only two minutes twice a day to help melt away tension wherever it creeps up.

So how does it do it? In the elegant words of Dove, the Theragun ($249 for the Liv model) “whacks your muscles repeatedly to work out kinks.” And no matter whether you’re a star athlete training for a marathon or a JOMO queen with some time to kill on a Friday night, you can reap the benefits of using the device. “It really is good for everyone,” says Theragun creator Jason Wersland, DC. “The most basic thing it does is it relieves tension.” By using rapid pulses on more targeted areas, Dr. Wersland explains that the fitness tech helps to induce blood flow to your soft tissue, which results in less tight muscles, and, as a result, enhanced mobility.

And it doesn’t take all day like some other recovery modalities do, either. “It’s like an espresso shot of recovery,” he says. The rapid-fire, quick-hit motions from the device work to provide targeted relief wherever you need it. That means you don’t have to dig into the nooks and crannies of the body the way you do with other devices—the machine just kind of does the work for you. Set the clock, and then click the video above to get Dr. Wersland’s full run-down for properly unwinding tension and feeling loose. Then, you’ll be ready to tackle whatever is ahead of you (be it 26.2 or finally getting to Brittany Runs a Marathon in your movie queue).

For more What the Wellness, learn all about how brow pinching works to create lifted arches.  Also, watch Dove learn from the pros on how to track heart rate.