Whole-body PBM / exercise recovery
Whole-body photobiomodulation for exercise performance and recovery systematic review
Álvarez-Martínez M, Borden G. Lasers in Medical Science. 2025.
A systematic review of whole-body PBM found possible sleep-quality improvement but no evidence of benefits for exercise recovery or performance.
Evidence grade
low
Effect direction
mixed
Panel relevance
panel-replicable
Key findings
- The review is directly consumer-relevant because whole-body beds and large panels are common home-device claims.
- The authors found no evidence of benefits for exercise recovery or performance.
- Sleep quality was the one possible positive signal, but the authors called for more research.
Protocol details
| Wavelengths | Not reported nm |
|---|---|
| Irradiance | Not reported mW/cm2 |
| Fluence | Not reported J/cm2 |
| Session time | Not reported minutes |
| Frequency | Varied across whole-body PBM studies |
| Duration | Varied across whole-body PBM studies |
| Treatment area | Whole body |
| Device type | Whole-body photobiomodulation beds, booths, or large-array devices |
Caveats
- Whole-body PBM should not be described as proven for exercise recovery based on this review.
- Sleep findings are preliminary and should be framed separately from performance claims.