Red light therapy to enhance performance? New study suggests so

🚥🦵Red light therapy to enhance sprint performance?

👀 Phototherapy using near-infrared light applied directly to the muscles has been shown to improve performance mostly in modalities of aerobic exercise.

⚡️ Because photobiomodulation [see slide 2] can enhance ATP synthesis, and hence creatine phosphate resynthesis, the authors of these study wanted to know whether red light phototherapy can also improve anaerobic, sprint exercise.

📝 16 active, healthy men performed three 30s all-out sprints on the bike. One time to assess baseline numbers, one time with a placebo and on time after phototherapy applied at 16 different spots at the leg.

📈Interestingly, there was a modest, but for many athletes significant, increase in peak power and mean power with phototherapy during those 30s sprints. Performance parameters improved by 1 to 5 %.

❓Should average joes now all of a sudden go and buy expensive red light equipment? IMO no, but it might be something to consider for athletes.

Read full paper here: Correa et al., PMID: 32796413

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32796413/

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#redlighttherapy #LED #performance #exercise #sprint #biology #gohard #science #training #crossfit