The effects of a wearable pulsed blue-red light patch on muscle recovery and fatigue (Conference Presentation)

Abstract

Muscle fatigue can lead to decreased performance and be a precursor to muscle injury. We determine the effects of a novel blue 450 nm and red 630 LED light patch on repeated bouts of a reliable elbow flexion fatigue protocol. Methods: We enrolled 34 strength trained individuals and determined their 1 repetition maximum (RM) for a controlled elbow flexion task using their non-dominate arm. After at least 4 days rest the participants completed a fatigue task using a weight of 50% of their 1 RM. During the fatigue task a marker was set to 90° of elbow flexion. The participant complete elbow flexion repetitions at 25 rep/min. The task was stopped when the participant was unable to move the weight back to the marker or they were in the wrong position at the metronome beat. After the fatigue task a 30-minute active red-blue or sham treatment, determined by random assignment, was applied. The active treatment had a peak irradiance of 9 mW/cm2, 33% duty cycle, and fluence of 5.4 J/cm2. After the treatment, participants repeated the fatigue protocol with the same working weight (50% of 1 RM). The number of repetitions were counted during the pre- and post-treatment fatigue tasks. Results: 29.4% of active treatment participants improved the number of fatigue repetitions while no participants in the sham treatment improved during the post-treatment fatigue task (P = 0.045). Conclusion: The use of a blue-red flexible light patch over a muscle group can reduce muscle fatigue during repetitive intense exercises.