Biohacking Your Workouts: Cold Plunges, Red Light Therapy, and Wearable Tech

Biohacking Your Workouts: Cold Plunges, Red Light Therapy, and Wearable Tech

Feb 24, 2025 mindpump

Biohacking has become a very popular space in the health and wellness realm. The more fitness influencers talk about recovery and performance modalities such as cryotherapy and red light, the more interest it gains. Let’s look into whether it’s worth the hype.

Cold Plunge/Cryotherapy

Cold plunges were always very common amongst athletes after their practices. It is a tool used to promote recovery from the amount of training athletes do compared to the average individual. The idea behind it is to expose yourself to extreme cold temperatures to lower inflammation and improve circulation. The end result is less pain so you can perform better. Because it is also triggering the fight or flight response, some find a dopamine rush from it. So, is it legit? It depends.

If you jump into an ice bath or cryotherapy chamber immediately post workout it is opposing the real goal. When you lift creates an inflammatory response. We are breaking down muscle to help regrow bigger and stronger. By sending an anti-inflammatory signal, we are quieting this signal. Does that mean it’s worthless? No. It’s about using the tool intelligently. Some find using it before their workout gives them that energy burst they need to push harder than they normally would. Alternatively, you could do it on off days or cardio days when you aren’t lifting to still reap the rewards of lowering inflammation.

Red-Light Therapy

I’ll admit I used to be SUPER skeptical of red-light therapy. There is just something hard to grasp about the idea of shining a bunch of red-light bulbs on your body and voila, you’re healed. According to science, and there’s plenty out now, it actually works.

The redlight uses specific wavelengths of red and near-infrared light to enhance mitochondrial function. Simply put, it gives you more energy. It will also increase circulation and speed up recovery. As we get older, we produce less mitochondria (and thus energy). So, if we can provide a signal to our body to help boost the production of our mitochondria (and in some cases produce more mitochondria) then we are keeping ourselves younger as we age.

What you can notice from using red-light is faster recovery, in some cases more energy, and I personally find I get more relaxed from it, so I like to use it towards the second half of the day or when I’m not lifting. The one catch is that it takes very consistent use. 3-5 days a week at 15-20 minutes exposure to as much of the body as possible for months at a time. So, while it is not a quick fix, if done consistently, you will receive benefits over time.

Wearable Tech

More and more wearable tech is coming out. The WHOOP straps, Oura rings, Apple watch, you name it. The goal is to be able to track metrics by using data received by these devices so you can personalize your recovery and performance. So, does it work? Again, it depends.

My first response would be, if it makes you overly obsessive about tracking data and consuming your life to “positively” influence the data then it’s probably not worth it. If you’re good at being objective, and love to collect data and play scientist with yourself, then it can be a great tool to add. I have the Oura ring, and I love to use it to see how my workouts, daily life, and food play into my sleep. It has helped me realize eating close to bedtime results in a higher heart rate, which doesn’t allow me to get as much deep sleep as I should be getting. I’ve noticed the more I keep up with my aerobic routine and space out that final meal before bed, the higher my HRV is.

Other devices, like glucose tracking monitors, can help you see how your body responds to certain foods, and which foods create blood sugar spikes. Again, if you’re dialed in and can look at it for what it is, then these can be useful tools to take your wellness journey to the next level. Are they absolute must-haves? Definitely not.

Final Verdict: Hype or Legit?

It all comes down to how you use it. These are all very useful tools when applied appropriately. It’s like supplementation. I can use whey protein powder to help me hit my protein target goals if I struggle to hit them. I can also become too reliant and consume all my protein intake from whey which is not good. The trick is to not get too caught up. If you’re curious to test certain devices out, it may be a fun experiment for you.