Mike Bryan - to the top at 40 thanks to a red light

I have been playing professional tennis for over two decades and one of the strongest factors for me has been health. You only have one body and you have to take care of it. As important as serving is to me, recovery was also important to me. The ATP is an extremely competitive environment and every player is looking for that extra edge. When I first heard about the red lights, I had to give it a try. Today I use red panels every day and let me tell you why and when I started.

Less joint pain and red light therapy

Tennis is basically a year-round game and during the 2018 season I got injured. The break on tour is very short and I knew I had to do something to speed up my recovery and rehab so I could enter 2019 at the level of play I expect.

After a little initial miscommunication with my panel (I had it in infrared mode, which is invisible to the human eye), I started to feel the benefits pretty quickly. One of the first things I noticed was a reduction in joint pain after workouts and matches. A tennis player is only as good as his wrists, knees and ankles, so this was a major improvement for my game.

Better sleep

I spent a huge chunk of my adult life in hotel rooms when I played the World Tour. It's never easy to get a good night's rest on the road, especially when you add the stress and physical demands of professional tennis. Ever since I started using the LED panel with the quad light every night, I have fallen asleep more easily and slept much better. I use my red light when I brush my teeth, stretch and read at night. Basically, whenever I'm in my room, the light shines on different parts of my body. It has paid off a lot for my circadian rhythm.

It's not just my impression that I sleep better with red light. Because I track my sleep with the Oura ring, I was able to compare my sleep scores before and after. The data shows that since I started with the red light, my sleep is longer and more restful. This gives me a big advantage before I even step on the court, and makes it easier to handle international tournaments and travel.

Red light recovery

I cannot stress enough how important recovery is for tennis players. To win tournaments and survive on Tour, you need to have a great game and stay healthy in hundreds of matches. With the red light, I can practice and play harder and not feel as much muscle pain the next day. When you only have a day to recover between matches, it's a huge advantage over the competition. Just 10-15 minutes of light therapy keeps me fresh, energized and with less pain. The end result is that I step on the court with stronger legs and can gain more power in my strokes as I progress through the tournament.

The future?

After a long amazing career in tennis, I am preparing for retirement. A lot of people have asked me what's next. Tennis has taught me so many life lessons. My sport is an incredible teacher and I am eager to take my experiences and everything I have learned on Tour and use it to live the rest of my life to the fullest. I enjoy helping people to succeed and want to coach and mentor the next generation of athletes. We'll see what that entails, but I'm looking forward to the next chapter. One thing is for sure though, I will stay active and will be for a long time to come.