Bob and Brad vs Theragun

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The side-by-side, as published

Every figure below was read off each manufacturer’s own product page on 24 July 2026. Both pages are linked in the sources at the foot of this article, and the whole comparison takes about four minutes to verify yourself.

Bob and Brad C2 — published

• Amplitude: 10 mm
• Stall force: over 44 lb
• Speed range:2,000–3,200 percussions per minute, across 5 speeds
• Weight: 1.5 lb (0.68 kg)
• Noise: below 60 dB, stated at top speed

Theragun Prime (6th generation) — published

• Amplitude: not on the page
• Stall force: not on the page
• Speed range: not on the page — 5 speeds, range unstated
• Weight: 32 oz (907 g), so 2.0 lb
• Noise: not on the page
• Battery: 120 minutes at the lowest speed setting
• Warranty: 1-year limited
• Attachments: 2 (dampener, standard ball)
• Dimensions: 238 × 153 × 61 mm
• Durability: rated to survive drops from 10 feet

Reading the two sets of numbers against each other

Take Therabody’s wider-marketing figures at face value and set them beside the C2:

• Amplitude: Theragun 16 mm, C2 10 mm. A genuine and meaningful win for the Theragun. Six extra millimeters of travel is real depth on glutes, quads, hamstrings and thick paraspinal muscle. If those are your targets, this is the strongest argument for spending more that exists in this category.
• Stall force: Theragun up to 30 lb, C2 over 44 lb. Reversed, and by a wide margin. Stall force is how hard you can press before the motor stops, which decides whether the stroke survives contact with your body. The cheaper gun tolerates roughly half again as much pressure on the published figures.
• Weight: Theragun 2.0 lb, C2 1.5 lb. The C2 is a third lighter, which is the difference between finishing a session on your own shoulder and giving up.
• Attachments: Theragun 2, C2 5.
• Noise: Theragun unstated, C2 under 60 dB. One number, one blank.

The honest reading: the Theragun reaches deeper, the C2 takes more pressure before it stalls, and those two facts partly cancel. For a glute, the long stroke probably still wins. For a calf, a shoulder or a forearm — where 10 mm is already past the tissue — the extra stroke buys nothing and the extra stall force buys something.

The stall force caveat we are obliged to repeat

Neither company publishes a test protocol for stall force. Comparing 44 lb against 30 lb is comparing two numbers produced by two firms using methods neither has described. If either published a procedure we would link it and update the comparison. Until then, treat the direction of the gap as informative and the exact size of it as unverified.

What the Theragun genuinely gives you that the C2 does not

1. The pressure-feedback display.A real-time force readout that corrects the most common user error in the entire category — pressing far too hard, for far too long. Nothing at the C2’s price has anything like it, and for a first-time user it is more valuable than an extra 6 mm of stroke.
2. The drop rating. Rated to survive falls from 10 feet. Concrete, checkable, and unusual — most durability claims in this category are adjectives.
3. The longer stroke, for the specific muscles where it matters.
4. Brand permanence. Therabody will exist in five years and will sell you a replacement head. Most of this category will not.

What the C2 gives you that the Theragun does not

1. Numbers. Every depth-relevant spec, on the page, before you spend anything.
2. Higher published stall force — the spec that decides whether depth survives contact.
3. A third less weight, which is the other spec that decides whether you use it.
4. Three more attachments.
5. FSA and HSA eligibility, which quietly reduces the real price again for a lot of buyers.
6. A price low enough that buying the wrong one is not a financial event.

Our verdict

Buy the C2 unless you have a specific reason not to. It publishes what it does, its stall force and weight beat the premium alternative on the stated figures, and the money you do not spend is better put toward a roller and a ball — which cover jobs no gun does well.

Buy the Theragun Prime if your primary targets are glutes, quads or a thick lower back and you want the longest stroke available; if you want the pressure display to stop yourself over-pressing; or if you want a device you can drop on a gym floor and a brand that will still support it in 2031. Those are real reasons and we are not going to talk you out of them.

What we will not do is tell you the price gap buys depth, because on the evidence each company publishes, it does not straightforwardly do that.

What either gun will and will not do

Both are percussion devices and the research does not distinguish between brands. A study using a Theragun found significant reductions in tissue stiffness and improved hamstring range of motion. A systematic review supports gains in acute and explosive strength. But the randomized trial on soreness found percussion did not accelerate recovery until 72 hours post-exercise, offering immediate but temporary relief only.

Both guns will make you move a bit better for a while. Neither will make you recover faster. Buy on the first claim, which is supported, and ignore the second, which is not.