Red light therapy: The best sports performance enhancement tool there is.
Whether you're a professional athlete, weekend warrior, someone just getting back into exercise, or looking for new ways to enhance your current fitness routine, red light therapy can greatly benefit you and your fitness goals.
There’s a large base of clinical evidence showing red light therapy improves physical performance. So large that its overwhelming. This makes exercise combined with red light therapy a potent combination.
Not only does red light therapy help you recover faster, it amplifies every benefit that happens with exercise, including muscle gain, fat loss, performance, strength, and endurance. Lets take a look at the research.
Double muscle size and fat loss
Studies show that both red and near-infrared light therapy can powerfully repair muscle tissue and help people perform better. It also helps the body get more benefits from exercise - both in terms of fat loss and muscle gain. [1] [2] This includes doubling fat loss and insulin sensitivity. [2]
Recover faster
By now you may know that one major mechanism behind why red light therapy works is because it helps improve mitochondrial health and increase ATP. Because muscle tissue has more mitochondria than almost any other tissue or organ in the human body, and ATP is needed for every muscle contraction, muscle tissue is particularly responsive to red and near-infrared light. [5]
Prevent muscle fatigue
Red light therapy helps individuals recover more quickly from strenuous exercise, and helps prevent muscle fatigue during exercise. There is a large base of clinical research praising red light therapy for its ability to help prevent muscle fatigue, and promote faster recovery. [3], [4]
What mechanisms are behind these numerous benefits?
- Red and near-infrared light help promote the production of internal antioxidants by your cells, which prevents oxidative stress and damage to the muscle tissue (when light is applied before exercise). [6]
- Red and near-infrared light help reduce inflammation that will lead to cellular damage (and fatigue) in the muscle tissue as well. [7]
- Pre-conditioning: By using the light prior to exercise, it creates a “pre-conditioning” effect where the muscle cells suffer less damage from the exercise, as well as display higher strength/stamina in subsequent exercise following the initial bout of exercise
- Red and near-infrared light decrease lactic acid production by muscles
- Red and near-infrared light improve mitochondrial function during exercise
- Increases acetylcholine receptors on muscles (this is the neurotransmitter released from nerve cells that stimulates muscle contraction)
- Red and near-infrared light increase the production of specific types of heat shock proteins that protect cells from oxidative damage, stress, and apoptosis (early cell death).
- Red and near-infrared light also have the profound benefit of increasing mitochondrial adaptations and mitochondrial biogenesis (the creation of new mitochondria) following exercise. [8]
More reps - less burnout with red/NIR
One study looked at the number of reps that 34 athletes were able to perform on a leg extension weighted exercise as well as the amount of lactic acid their muscles produced, in placebo treatment (sham red/NIR light therapy) vs. 30, 60, or 90 seconds of real red/NIR light therapy.
After receiving 60 or 120 seconds oflight therapy, the number of reps the athletes were able to perform went up by 27%. And in the group that received 120 seconds of light therapy, their lactic acid levels were also significantly lower – indicated less muscle strain while actually performing better.
Improve performance/Accelerate recovery
Leal-Junior et al. performed a review of the relevant research in 2015 to examine the effects of phototherapy on exercise performance and recovery.
They compiled data from thirteen randomized control trials and examined the number of repetitions and time until exhaustion for muscle performance, as well as markers of exercise-induced muscle damage. The researchers concluded that pre-conditioning the muscles with red/NIR light (i.e. using the light prior to exercise) improves muscular performance and accelerates recovery.
RESEARCH CONCLUDES: Red light therapy is one of the most proven, effective and safe tools for increasing sports performance.
Study after study has shown red light therapy both prevents muscle soreness, and speeds muscle recovery after exercise. However, you don't have to be a pro athlete or exercise fanatic to get these results. The truth is, everyone can benefit from what red light therapy has to offer.
Best Sellers
At ATaPa we pride ourselves on selling one of the most effective and safe red light therapy devices you can find.
CITES
[1] https://suppversity.blogspot.com/2015/02/low-level-laser-therapy-lllt-almost.html
[2] https://suppversity.blogspot.com/2015/08/phototherapy-doubles-fat-loss-11-vs-6.html
[3] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jbio.201700282
[4] Wang F. 2006. Therapeutic effect observation and nurse of intranasal low intensity laser therapy on insomnia.Journal of Community Medicine. 4(3): 58 (in Chinese).
[5] Abrahamse, H. (2012). Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cells, and Low Level Laser Therapy. Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, 30(12).
[6] Avni, D., et. al. (2005). Protection of skeletal muscles from ischemic injury: low-level laser therapy increases antioxidant activity. Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, 23:273–277.
[7] Bjordal, J.M., (2006). A randomised, placebo controlled trial of low level laser therapy for activated achilles tendinitis with microdialysis measurement of peritendinous prostaglandin E2 concentrations. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 40:76–80.
[8] Sene-Fiorese, M. et al. (2015). The potential of phototherapy to reduce body fat, insulin resistance and"metabolic inflexibility" related to obesity in women undergoing weight loss treatment. Lasers in Surgery andMedicine, Oct;47(8):634-42.
