Red light therapy (RLT) can be beneficial both before and after a workout, but it’s typically more commonly used after a workout to help with muscle recovery, reduce inflammation, and alleviate soreness. Here’s how RLT can be used at both times:

Before Workout

• Benefits:
  
  
  
  • Increased Energy and Performance: Some studies suggest that red light therapy can increase mitochondrial activity, which might enhance your energy levels and overall performance during a workout.
  
  
  • Muscle Warm-up: Using red light therapy before exercise can help increase blood flow to muscles, which may reduce the risk of injury and help warm up muscles.
  
  
  
  How to Use: A session of 5-10 minutes before your workout can be enough. Focus on areas of the body you plan to work, like your legs or arms.

After Workout (More Common)

• Benefits:
  
  
  
  • Muscle Recovery: RLT helps reduce inflammation, muscle soreness, and fatigue by increasing circulation and accelerating the healing process in muscles.
  
  
  • Decreased Pain: Post-workout, RLT can help alleviate any discomfort or strain caused by exercise and may speed up the repair of microtears in muscle fibers.
  
  
  
  How to Use: After your workout, apply red light therapy for 10-20 minutes on areas that feel fatigued or sore. It's best to do this within 30-60 minutes of finishing your workout to maximize recovery.

Which is Better?

• Post-Workout is typically the most common and effective time to use red light therapy, as it aids in recovery, reduces soreness, and helps your muscles heal faster.


• Pre-Workout can also be beneficial, particularly if you're looking to enhance performance or reduce the chance of injury, but the effects are generally more pronounced after the workout.

In short, after a workout is usually the optimal time for RLT, but using it before can also provide some benefits for boosting performance.