At this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, The talented Chinese skier Gu Ailing has attracted absolute attention in the snow sports. Not only her special status makes her a star among athletes from all over the world, but also because of the gold and silver that challenges her own limits and wins glory for the country, Gu Ailing interprets the sportsmanship of a new generation of young people with her achievements and appearance, and naturally attracts a lot of commercial cooperation.
Counting the list of endorsements of this sports star, you can find a large number of well-known brands, covering food, clothing, housing and travel, there are almost no vacancies, and most of them are cooperations that she has decided before this. In the field of skiing, we can also see the cooperation of sports drinks Austrian Red Bull, sportswear Anta, sports glasses Oakley, in addition to this there is a niche field, positioning the fascia gun of sports rehabilitation equipment.
The fascia gun brand endorsed by Gu Ailing is Theragun, an American brand founded as early as 2008, and has a much longer history than competitors in the field of fascia guns. Theragun products are sold in the range of $200 to $300 abroad, and in China, they become absolutely high-end products: more than 2,000 yuan, and high-end products are more than 6,000 yuan.
For other areas of goods she endorses, we can often trust and give affirmation and support with actual consumption, but for some fresh fascia guns in both the public and sports and fitness fields, we will still have a few more question marks. Why is the price of such a device that seems to be only used for sports health recovery so high? And can it really bring about related health effects?
The prices range from tens to thousands, and the players are in the thousands
According to the current industry-accepted definition, the fascia gun definition is a soft tissue rehabilitation tool that uses the high frequency impact generated by the mechanical movement of the head to relax the soft tissues of the body (such as myofascia) to achieve rapid recovery of the body after exercise. Originally, it was an auxiliary rehabilitation equipment for foreign medical institutions to go to fitness places, and after coming to China, it became a new type of fitness equipment with the help of multiple brands.
According to the research data released by the China Research Institute, China's fascia gun market has experienced rapid growth in the past few years: the annual sales volume in 2019 was 164,100, in 2020 it grew to 1,549,600, and in the first half of 2021, the sales figure reached 1,178,600. The growth rate has slowed down, but overall it seems that there are still millions of market consumption potential, attracting a large number of players to enter.
The theoretical structure of the fascia gun is relatively simple, which can be achieved by driving the reciprocating movement of the head by the motor, and such a low design and manufacturing threshold has attracted many manufacturers in different fields to enter. Among them, there are those who have achieved results in foreign markets and entered China, some have focused on the development of sports and health products in China, some have been good at other fields but have cross-border entry, and there are obviously Chinese brands but disguised as foreign brands.
The current fascia gun product price range is wider, down to less than 100 yuan to thousands of yuan, the research agency will be 2000 yuan as a watershed to distinguish between low-end and high-end products, 2000 yuan below the absolute home of domestic brands, that is above the advantages of foreign and high-end brands. Although the appearance and function are quite similar, the different price segments of the product are divided by quality, function and experience.
Lei Technology purchased a hundred yuan internal fascia gun displayed on the front desk for tens of thousands of pieces through the e-commerce platform, and the brand was not clearly revealed on the product page and packaging, but emphasized that it came from abroad. The experience can fully feel the "shrinkage": in addition to the round head, the other massage heads are made of hard plastic, the vibration waveform is chaotic and will drive the fuselage resonance, and the fuselage does not take into account the torque and convenience of holding.
Coming to the price range of hundreds of yuan to thousands of yuan, the quality of the fascia gun has been greatly improved, first of all, the vibration has become reliable and more trustworthy, the overall area of the fuselage has begun to be miniaturized for easy use and carrying, and the material and touch have visible progress. Some manufacturers are beginning to work on functions other than massage relaxation, such as providing heating capacity that users can use directly to warm the skin.
Like many small household appliances in personal care and sports health categories, fascia gun products have appeared to a certain degree of intelligence, some brands actively adapt to the changes in the massage intensity used by users, and other parts can be controlled through mobile phones. However, from the actual experience, this intelligence can only be said to be better than nothing - the mobile phone side only provides switches and gear adjustments, which is completely consistent with the fuselage control.
There are also products that directly work the face value, which supports the price in addition to the function and experience. The sports community Keep has launched a fascia gun, of which the joint model cooperated with Line Friends has been a strange thing to live in, and has become a hot topic on platforms such as Little Red Book for a time, and has long had a much more expensive transaction price than other colors of the same model in the second-hand market.
Or a fitness tool, but pay attention to the method
Looking at the product introduction materials of different brands, it can be found that the main scene of the fascia gun has long surpassed the initial sports and fitness after relaxation and recovery. Regardless of the size and location, these brands will tell consumers that scenes such as sitting at home, outdoor daily walking, and business trips can use fascia guns, and this magical gadget will help users eliminate the fatigue caused by different occasions.
Some consumers are greatly amazed by the experience of the fascia gun, even if it is not often a high-intensity training exercise, the stimulation of the body by the regular vibration of the soles of the feet, thighs and other parts of the body is also relaxing. Some people use it through the recommendation of the coach in the gym personal training class, and they begin to like the feeling of being beaten, indicating that the accumulation of lactic acid that is easy to appear after exercise has been alleviated.
Mr. Ba has the habit of entering the gym to exercise and fitness, he has used a fascia gun for more than two years, and now uses a third-party modified massage head to reduce the cost of use, and he believes that the efficiency of the equipment to relax the muscles is not as high as that of pure hand. Ms. Li, a middle-aged woman who does not often carry out aerobic exercise, said that the fascia gun back beating effect found by chance in the live broadcast with goods is good, and there is also a relaxing experience.
From this point of view, the fascia gun explosion is not entirely the result of capital momentum, there is a word of mouth in gyms and online communities, and it is also an important reason for consumers to gradually become interested in it. But can not completely ignore the possible negative effects of the fascia gun, all products will prompt the user in the instructions, can not be used directly in the joints and soft tissues weak areas, to learn to use under the guidance.
The Sichuan Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau has issued a document warning about the safety hazards of fascia guns, pointing out that "hard parts of the body such as joints should not be impacted, and should be avoided in key and vulnerable parts, and attention should also be paid to controlling the time of impact." At the same time, it also reminds of possible problems in the current market environment, such as potential hazards related to voltage disturbance in power terminals, and injuries such as stuck fingers that may occur in the rotating shaft.
Coach Wang will use a fascia gun for the trainees in the exercise instruction, which can relax the tense muscles in a few minutes, which is much more efficient than before the emergence of such products. He still said that he is more willing to grasp it, one is that it is easy to make people feel dependent and there is a risk of misoperation, and the other is that for experienced fitness coaches, it will be more clear and intuitive to directly grasp the muscles with their hands to help relax.
In general, fascia guns are sports aids that have a certain role, but attention should be paid to product quality, use occasions and frequency. Users should only use it for muscle relaxation, and appropriate amounts, should not be used on other body parts or instead of professional medical equipment, improper use may cause unexpected harm.
Sports and fitness products, now promising?
For manufacturers who want to gain something on fascia guns, they are certainly concerned about how many opportunities there are in the future. Although there is only one Gu Ailing, in the context of the pursuit of healthy life and sports fitness, more and more consumers will produce sports health product snowballs, and there will be more sports stars to drive more huge economic benefits.
The fascia gun market observed by Lei Technology can be roughly divided into two routes: boutique differentiation and low-price road. The former is a high-end brand represented by Theragun, which makes great efforts in the actual experience and product materials, design, and brand packaging, so that users think that it is worth the money. The latter is a best-selling model of hundreds of yuan, paying attention to "two major tubes full".
When consumers buy, it is obvious that they should give priority to the fascia gun with a clear brand and product packaging, and the manufacturers who are willing to spend a lot of effort on the sales of these products often have the basic skills that can be accepted by most people, and the reliability of the product can be trusted. If it is purely greedy for cheap, you may buy a "low-end electric drill with a different head" like Lei Technology.
Market data has brought new concerns to the industry, after reaching the peak, will the overall market size of fascia guns decline? After all, the overall increase has slowed down visible to the naked eye. This requires manufacturers to start from two aspects, provide improvement and optimization for old users who are willing to replace new products, provide more scene support for new users other than sports and fitness, and highlight the consumption value under the new situation.
Looking at the entire sports and fitness product, similar logic can be used universally. If the whole population is keen on health and fitness, there is an opportunity to create value through the goal of providing services and improving physical function. Low-end products make small money from more people, while high-end products make a lot of money from smaller people, which will continue in the short and medium term.