Why performance teams and academies use Luma Bio

Performance groups such as Red Bull and Under Armour and their Performance teams believe recovery is absolutely essential to athletic performance and overall health. For instance, at Under Armour’s Human Performance Center in Oregon, Director of Athletic Performance, Michael Watts, about how UA uses red light therapy for athletic recovery and other health benefits. 

Academies and high performance teams know that Recovery is Essential to Training and Performance

Nowadays with professional sports franchises such as the IPL, NFL and even Formula 1, athletes and their trainers are using evidence-based approaches for athletes to train and recover. One key aspect to their holistic approach is focusing on light exposure.

“Light is a vital part of how we function and operate as human beings,” says Michael Watts. “Our entire body clock is governed by light, meaning exposure to light with the correct wavelengths at the right times supports our diurnal rhythm, and our overall health and wellness.”

The entire high performance community is using science and research to expand the bounds of what we consider athletic training. They’re looking at an athlete’s entire life, not just what they do in the gym. Mental health, sleep, light exposure, and recovery are just a few of the ways they enhance an athlete’s overall health and wellness.

A Look at the Recovery Protocol at Top sports franchises now

Performance teams today go well beyond ice packs and foam rollers. They’re bringing the cutting-edge of athletic recovery technology into their training facilities to give their athletes a competitive edge. Athletes who train in top facilities today use the following following modalities in their recovery protocol:

• Sauna: Sauna is great for various benefits including the release of heat shock proteins that improve an athlete’s stress response.  

• Meditation: Mental health is also a key part of training, and athletes today embrace mindfulness to help stay in their best headspace to perform.

• Breathwork: Guided breathwork can help athletes deal with pain, stress, and sleep. It can also improve heart rate variability. 

• Massage: Massage tools and therapists help athletes recover from strain and minor injuries naturally.

• Luma Bio red light therapy: Increasingly we find more sports academies investing in the health and performance benefits of light, with us at Luma Bio. This trend started in the US when a sleep sanctuary was created for heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Then Under Armour implemented Light Therapy at their performance headquarters, so all their top athletes and student-athletes could benefit from red light therapy. From there, things have really ramped up and today we find that the top academies in India are also using these devices. 

The tangible performance benefits that Academies derive for their athletes from the use of Luma Bio devices 

As mentioned above, light therapy was first embraced by academies and athletes to improve sleep quality and circadian rhythms. However, over the past decade these devices are used much more holistically for a variety of other performance and recovery improvements. 

“I recommend Joovv because the daily exposure enhances health and wellness,” says Watts. “I also recommend it for acute injuries or painful sites to reduce inflammation and help accelerate recovery. It’s an amazing modality that helps our athletes unplug and disconnect from the day-to-day rigors of being a professional athlete.”

Several athletes benefit from Light Therapy

Michael Phelps, Slone Stephens, The Bryan Brothers NAME OTHER ATHLETES and Lindsy Vonn, among many other champions use light therapy devices. For these athletes across sports, its about time and efficacy and they choose to use Light Therapy as it works and they know and value it. These are some of the biggest advantages of red light therapy, as shown in hundreds of peer-reviewed clinical trials and studies:

Pain & inflammation relief: Light therapy improves the efficiency of the body’s natural inflammation and pain processes as a person recovers from illness or injury. [1] 

Better circulation: Light therapy sessions can result in a significant increase in blood flow. Concentrated light wavelengths can also help the body and circulatory system rid itself of toxic byproducts. [2] 

Optimal fitness & recovery: Muscle cells require a lot of energy, and grow & strengthen through a process of tears & repairs. Light therapy helps your body produce and use ATP energy more efficiently. [3] 

Better sleep: Our brains interpret light as a sign of when to be awake and asleep, and when to make crucial sleep hormones like melatonin. Bright blue light at night can knock your sleep cycle out of whack, but red light is a lower-intensity alternative that can help support longer, more restful sleep. [4,5]

Michael Watts says that in addition to these major light therapy benefits, “our athletes often report a sense of calmness, wellbeing, and increased energy after using Light Therapy.”

Light therapy is increasingly becoming a mainstay in the toolbox of both Athletes and Academies to get the most out of their abilities. At the top of the performance spectrum, where even 1.25% can be the difference between winning and losing, every bit of performance counts and the top athletes know that Red Light Therapy and specfically, Luma Bio bring this to them!

Sources and References:

[1] Hamblin M. Mechanisms and applications of the anti-inflammatory effects of photobiomodulation. AIMS Biophysics. 2017 May.

[2] Mak MC, Cheing GL. Immediate effects of monochromatic infrared energy on microcirculation in healthy subjects. Photomed Laser Surg. 2012.

[3] Stelian J, Gil I, Habot B, Rosenthal M, Abramovici I, Kutok N, Khahil A. Improvement of pain and disability in elderly patients with degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee treated with narrow-band light therapy. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1992 Jan;40(1):23-6.

[4] Jung C, Khalsa S, et al. Acute Effects of Bright Light Exposure on Cortisol Levels. Journal of Biological Rhythms. 2010 Jun.

[5] Harvard Health. Blue light has a dark side.