Recovery service
The evidence points before training, not after, which is the opposite of the habit
Red and near-infrared light penetrate skin and reach the tissue beneath. The working hypothesis is that light in these wavelengths is absorbed by components of the mitochondria, the part of the cell producing usable energy, and that this absorption shifts cellular energy production and oxidative stress handling for a period afterward. Wavelength decides depth: light around 660 nm stays shallow and suits skin and tendon, while near-infrared around 810 to 850 nm reaches further into larger muscle.
Dose behaves unusually here. The response curve is biphasic, meaning too little does nothing and too much can cancel the effect rather than amplify it. More light is not better light, which makes this one of the few recovery inputs where enthusiasm is actively counterproductive.
The part most people get backwards is timing. The larger recent analysis found its effect when light was applied before exercise, treating it as a conditioning input rather than a repair tool. That reframes the whole service: it belongs at the front of a session, alongside a warm-up, not at the end alongside a stretch.
Schedule it before, roughly fifteen to twenty minutes ahead of the session, and treat it as part of preparing to work rather than part of winding down. This is the single most useful thing on this page, because the default assumption is the reverse: people add light at the end of a workout the way they add a stretch. The larger analysis found its effect on the pre-exercise side. Applying it afterward is not harmful, but you are then relying on a weaker branch of the literature than the one available to you.
The evidence
Graded honestly. Where a finding argues against the way this service is usually sold, it still gets printed.
Applying photobiomodulation before exercise improved muscle endurance and recovery of strength and muscle damage markers, with moderate to large effect sizes.
2024 meta-analysis of 34 randomized controlled trials, Lasers in Medical Science
The caveat: The result held in athletes and in sedentary participants but was ineffective in the physically active group in between, which is an odd pattern for a real physiological effect. The authors propose a muscle fibre explanation, but an inconsistent response across populations is a reason for caution.
No significant effect on running performance was found.
2024 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on photobiomodulation and running performance
The caveat: This analysis found no effect with or without training and no dose-response relationship. It does not overturn the endurance finding above, but it does mean the benefit has not transferred cleanly to a real competitive outcome.
No consistent added benefit to maximal strength alongside resistance training.
Systematic review and meta-analysis of acute photobiomodulation effects on maximum repetitions in resistance exercise, Lasers in Medical Science
The caveat: If your goal is a heavier lift, this is not the input that produces it. The endurance and damage-marker findings are the ones with support, and they are separate outcomes from maximal force production.
When to skip it
This page is general information about a wellness service, not medical advice. If something is injured or you are under a clinician’s care, ask them first.
Questions
Tell us the sport, the soreness and when you next compete, and we will confirm whether this is the right call.