Can massage guns from the likes of Theragun, Pulse Roll and others brands, help you warm up before exercise and recover more quickly after it?Massage guns are one of the biggest-selling fitness devices of the past few years. They have a vibrating silicone head that delivers percussive pressure onto the muscle. Manufacturers claim ‘vibration’ therapy increases bloodflow and helps the user warm up before exercise, perform better during it AND ease soreness afterwards. But does it?Listener Clare got in touch after she bought one following a tip-off from a friend that they could help relieve aches and pains after a run (including a bad back) as well as her husband’s sore shoulder.Greg Foot finds out if those claims are true by speaking to manufacturers, leading physiotherapists and scientists involved in the latest research.This series, we’re testing your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there's any evidence to back up a claim drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807PRESENTER: Greg Foot
PRODUCER: Simon Hoban

Can massage guns from the likes of Theragun, Pulse Roll and others brands, help you warm up before exercise and recover more quickly after it? Massage guns are one of the biggest-selling fitness devices of the past few years. They have a vibrating silicone head that delivers percussive pressure onto the muscle. Manufacturers claim ‘vibration’ therapy increases bloodflow and helps the user warm up before exercise, perform better during it AND ease soreness afterwards. But does it? Listener Clare got in touch after she bought one following a tip-off from a friend that they could help relieve aches and pains after a run (including a bad back) as well as her husband’s sore shoulder. Greg Foot finds out if those claims are true by speaking to manufacturers, leading physiotherapists and scientists involved in the latest research. This series, we’re testing your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there's any evidence to back up a claim drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807 PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Simon Hoban

Massage Guns

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up Toast. A study of the spectacular failures of brands which had promised so much to consumers. In each episode, the presenter and BBC business journalist Sean Farrington examines one big idea. What did it promise? Why did people back it? Why did they get burnt? Some of the world’s most successful businesses have also brought us some of the world’s most remarkable failures. So, what led them to be toast? And what can we learn from their stories today? Sean unpicks all the early optimism, hype and ambition. He learns about the tremendous success of a brand before hearing how it faltered, with help from expert commentators and people who were directly involved. How do they view things now and what, if anything, could have been done differently? The self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur, Sam White, is alongside him, analysing the missteps that changed a brand’s fortunes and reaching her own, often instructive, conclusions. From big tech to high street retail and, of course, food, Toast tackles the business ideas that, one way or another, ended up cooked. Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in January, 2026. In the new series, Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread. In the meantime, Toast is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds. For this brand new series of Toast, episodes will be released weekly on Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode on BBC Sounds first, a week earlier than anywhere else.Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4.

Health & Fitness

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up Toast. A study of the spectacular failures of brands which had promised so much to consumers. In each episode, the presenter and BBC business journalist Sean Farrington examines one big idea. What did it promise? Why did people back it? Why did they get burnt? Some of the world’s most successful businesses have also brought us some of the world’s most remarkable failures. So, what led them to be toast? And what can we learn from their stories today? Sean unpicks all the early optimism, hype and ambition. He learns about the tremendous success of a brand before hearing how it faltered, with help from expert commentators and people who were directly involved. How do they view things now and what, if anything, could have been done differently? The self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur, Sam White, is alongside him, analysing the missteps that changed a brand’s fortunes and reaching her own, often instructive, conclusions. From big tech to high street retail and, of course, food, Toast tackles the business ideas that, one way or another, ended up cooked. Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in January, 2026. In the new series, Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread. In the meantime, Toast is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds. For this brand new series of Toast, episodes will be released weekly on Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode on BBC Sounds first, a week earlier than anywhere else. Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4.

Share Massage Guns

Sign up to save your podcasts

Massage Guns

Massage Guns

More shows like Sliced Bread

Global News Podcast

The Archers

More or Less

Newshour

Money Box

In Our Time

The Documentary Podcast

6 Minute English

Learning English Conversations

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

Comedy of the Week

Desert Island Discs

Gardeners' Question Time

The Food Programme

BBC Inside Science

Inside Health

Curious Cases

The Life Scientific

All in the Mind

You're Dead to Me

The Bomb

Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley

What's Up Docs?