Photobiomodulation therapy before futsal matches improves the staying time of athletes in the court and accelerates post-exercise recovery

Does photobiomodulation therapy combined to static magnetic field (PBMT-sMF) promote ergogenic effects even when the exercised muscle group is not irradiated? A randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial

“…This study showed that PBMT-sMF did not increase performance or reduce strenuous exercise-induced fatigue when applied to sites distant from the exercised muscle. This finding supports the hypothesis that PBMT-sMF should be applied locally to muscles that will be exercised and concurs with the results reported by several previous studies [30,[33][34][35][36], as well as the results of current systematic reviews and meta-analyses discussing this subject and the recently published guidelines [1,14,15]. To summarize, the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) in the local group was similar to that reported by Antonialli et al [30] who observed that application of local PBMT-sMF using an optimal dose (180 J/thigh) improves muscle performance.…”

“…In clinical scenario, many studies have also shown that PBMT-sMF has positive effects on muscle performance and post-exercise recovery in athletes and non-athletes [30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Additionally, such intervention is known to improve the fatigue in the lower limbs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [37,38] and stroke [39].…”

Effects of photobiomodulation therapy combined to static magnetic field in strength training and detraining in humans: protocol for a randomised placebo-controlled trial

“…After 2 days of baseline evaluation, the volunteers will start the strength training, which will be based on a previous study performed by our research group 22. The training will be performed unilaterally (with both right and left legs) with a load of 80% 1RM, 2 times a week on non-consecutive days (72 hours apart) and will consist of 5 sets of 10 repetitions for 12 weeks (3 months), totalling 24 leg - press and leg-extension workouts.…”

“…For the placebo treatments, the 905 nm laser diodes, the 875 nm LEDs and the magnetic field will be deactivated (turned off), and the power of the 640 nm LEDs will be decreased to 1 mW (mean power for each diode) in order to keep the visual aspect of red light, but not to deliver an effective therapeutic or considerable dose according the current available evidence 8. It is important to mention that this placebo method has been employed in several studies performed previously using the same PBMT/sMF device18 20 22 24 25…”

“…In addition to promoting ergogenic effects, PBMT also had a protective effect on the skeletal muscles of the animals, as creatine kinase activity was significantly lower in the irradiated animals than in the non-irradiated animals. Subsequently, a series of clinical trials involving athletes from different sports and healthy individuals conducted by our research group and other groups showed that, when applied before an exercise session, both PBMT and PBMT combined to static magnetic field (PBMT/sMF) can increase the number of repetitions performed,10–12 lengthen the time to exhaustion,10 13–15 increase peak torque12 16–19 and even improve performance of athletes in field tests,20 and in simulated21 and real matches 22. In many of these clinical trials, when PBMT or PBMT/sMF were applied before exercises, it also had protective effects on the skeletal muscle tissue, allowing a faster recovery.…”