Red Light Therapy For Muscle Repair

Another week, another newsletter! This newsletter covers red light therapy for muscle repair. And we've added a lot of our latest content and polls.

Happy weekend!

Fasten your seatbelt. Let's go:

New Muscle In Skeletal Muscle Repair Study

So there's this very recent study coming out on light therapy for muscle repair, which you can read for free HERE. The study was published on April 30 - which is in the future as of this moment of writing!

Here are some of the effects described by the researchers:

"[Light therapy] is a non-invasive photon-based therapy with multiple biological functions, such as improving mitochondrial function, reducing neuroinflammation, promoting myofactors, modulating the immune system, and enhancing healing and tissue repair processes"

You may know that recently, we've also published an article on light therapy and exercise performance, which overlaps with the study listed above:

The main key of the current study is that light therapy can support many of the outcomes of exercise. Here's the conclusion of the study:

"Cumulative evidence demonstrates that [light therapy] exerts multifaceted benefits on skeletal muscle. It accelerates repair via satellite cell activation, reduces oxidative stress and inflammation, enhances performance and fatigue resistance in healthy muscle, and mitigates damage in injured or pathological tissue These effects are mediated by interconnected pathways, including CCO-dependent mitochondrial regulation, Ca²⁺ signaling, redox modulation, and macrophage polarization, all of which"

The "CCO-dependent" mechanism here, is found in the mitochondria and was assumed to be the main mechanism for many years/decades. However, more recent studies on mechanisms have changed their findings. Bart has written about these mechanisms here, and these include the mitochondria, growth factors, and electrolyte dynamics in cells:

More recently, howevever, Prof Michael Hamblin and Ari Whitten have also explored other more systemic mechanisms through which human physiology is affected:

The total dose applied to the body may be more important here than any local treatment. At least, that's Prof Micheal Hamblin and Ari Whitten's argument in the new book.

What are our most important recommendations for red light therapy around exercise? Well:

Ideally, you focus on NIR predominance. NIR penetrates deeper - a lot deeper even most likely, with 10-20 fold increases in deeper tissues.
Treat big muscle groups before a workout - afterward is OK too but before workouts is better.
Handheld or tabletop panels are great for this. Or a device like the Chroma Ironforge.
Check our new guide on dosing here if you want more insight into that dynamic

Overall, once again, we see big developments in the red light therapy space, this time for very likely benefits for muscle repair. Of course, as always, we need a lot more research on this topic, to know the ideal wavelengths, treatment frequency, devices, etc.

Here Are Our Latest Light Therapy Insiders' Articles:

Every single article that we've published recently - you can find the videos in the article itself:

Infrared Sauna vs Red Light Therapy: Why They’re NOT the Same - This is Alex's argument as to why red light therapy and infrared saunas aren't the same. Both play different (and important!) roles
Red Light Dosing & Wavelengths Explained Simply - Here's what you need to know about all of dosing and wavelengths basics. This video is part of Bart's course that has some episodes that we can't publish on YouTube due to fear of censorship. You can join the full 100% advanced science course for free HERE.
Sauna Space Brian Richards: Red Light & Sauna COMBINED? - Can you combine red light therapy and infrared saunas? Brian Richard thinks so, and Alex interviews him about the topic!
Interview With Sun Stream Sauna Owner And Founder Kevin Halsey - Sun Stream has been Alex's recommended sauna brand, and here's an older interview with Kevin, the founder, by Alex - they discuss why Sun Stream is arguably the best infrared sauna option that's still non-toxic and also affordable.
Ten Huge Light Therapy Science Developments From Recent Years - Here are 10 different science developments in light therapy from 2024 - 2026. Huge progress is being made in the space!

Weekly Question: What Should We Be Doing Differently As Light Therapy Insiders? And What Are We Doing Well?

So I just opened a question/informal poll on Facebook on what we should be doing differently as Light Therapy Insiders, and what we're doing well. You can see the poll HERE after joining our Facebook group.

Here's the question I asked:

Again, we're very VERY curious about your input. So join our Facebook group and tell us what you think - good or bad!

Also, Check Out Some Of Our Other Content:

Below you'll find some of our best content that you shouldn't miss:

Light Therapy Advanced Science Course - Contains Content On Exercise Performance Too:

Join Bart's 100% free advanced science light therapy course above, where he takes deep dives into many different topics, such as mechanisms, neurology (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc), exercise recovery, skin beauty & rejuvenation, and much more.

Some of the topics are only published in that course, such as UV light risks and benefits, addiction, anxiety, depression, and more. So join HERE!