Living in the dark: why winter hits so hard - Redlight can fix that !

Living in the dark: why winter hits so hard - Redlight can fix that !

You drag yourself out of bed, open the curtains…and it’s still black outside. You commute in the dark, sit under strip lights all day, then step out of the office and – of course – it’s dark again.

After a few weeks of that routine, it’s no wonder the body starts quietly asking:

“Are we sure we shouldn’t just hibernate until April?”

For a lot of people in the UK, that feeling isn’t weakness or lack of discipline – it’s biology. And that’s exactly where red light therapy, smart use of light, and (yes) an honest conversation about sunbeds come in.

This is a one-sit, “cup-of-tea” read on why winter hits so hard, what Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) actually is, how red light and sun exposure fit into the picture, and how a structured red light protocol can be genuinely life-changing – especially if you’re an athlete or gym-goer who loses all drive the minute the clocks change.

When winter turns the lights off on your brain

In the UK, estimates suggest that up to 1 in 15 people experience some form of Seasonal Affective Disorder each year, with about 3 in 100 meeting criteria for significant winter depression. Many more sit in the grey zone of “winter blues” – that slightly heavier, slower, hungrier version of themselves between roughly September and April. lawtonhousesurgery.nhs.uk+2Primary Care 24+2

SAD isn’t just “I don’t like cold weather”. It’s a subtype of depression that follows a seasonal pattern, often worsening in the darker months and easing when the light returns.

Common signs look like:

  • Low mood and loss of interest in things you’d normally enjoy

  • Fatigue, oversleeping, and still feeling wiped out

  • Heavier limbs, like you’re moving through treacle

  • Carb and sugar cravings, weight gain

  • Reduced concentration and motivation – including training motivation

If that lines up suspiciously well with your life from October to March, you’re not being dramatic. Your nervous system is responding to a genuine change in its environment.

Your body runs on light data

The most widely accepted explanation for SAD is brutally simple:
Not enough proper daylight at the right times.

Inside your eyes, a set of light-sensitive cells respond especially strongly to blue-enriched light in the morning. These cells feed information to your brain’s master clock – the suprachiasmatic nucleus – which sets your circadian rhythm, melatonin (sleep hormone) timing and serotonin dynamics.

In summer that’s easy: you step outside and get a powerful daylight signal. In a British winter:

  • The sun is low in the sky

  • The days are short

  • Most of us are indoors during peak daylight

The result is that your internal clock drifts, melatonin doesn’t switch off properly in the morning, and your brain never quite believes it’s daytime. That’s why you can feel jet lagged without ever leaving your postcode.

Bright light boxes, SAD lamps…and where red light fits

Traditionally, winter depression has been treated with:

  • Standard depression treatments (talking therapy, medication)

  • Bright light therapy – sitting near a 10,000 lux “SAD lamp” for ~30 minutes in the morning

Bright light therapy is now widely recognised as a first-line option for SAD in many clinical settings, with a decent evidence base for improving symptoms when used consistently.PMC+2Harvard Health+2

But it’s important to understand what those lamps are doing:

  • They use bright white / blue-enriched light

  • The goal is to hit those melanopsin cells and reset your circadian clock

  • They don’t reach very deeply into tissue – they’re not designed to act on muscle or brain mitochondria

Red light therapy – or photobiomodulation (PBM) – plays a different game.

Photobiomodulation 101: red light isn’t just “cosy”

PBM uses specific wavelengths of red and near-infrared light, typically between about 600 and 900 nm, to influence cellular function. That range is often called the “optical window” where light penetrates tissue effectively and is absorbed by key molecules.PMC+2ScienceDirect+2

The main story, heavily simplified:

  • Inside your mitochondria – your cells’ power stations – sits cytochrome c oxidase, part of the electron transport chain.

  • This enzyme can absorb red and near-infrared photons.

  • When it does, a few useful things tend to happen:

    • ATP (cellular energy) production can increase

    • Nitric oxide can be released, improving blood flow

    • Reactive oxygen species can be modulated, nudging the cell toward repair and resilience

Across different tissues, PBM has been shown to:

  • Reduce inflammation and pain

  • Improve microcirculation

  • Support tissue repair and recoveryNature+1

In the brain, PBM has an extra interesting twist. Emerging work suggests that red/NIR light can:

  • Enhance cerebral blood flow

  • Support mitochondrial function in neurons

  • Influence neuroplasticity and network connectivity

Several small clinical trials and, more recently, systematic reviews have reported reductions in depressive symptoms when red or near-infrared light is applied over the scalp or via wearable devices, in people with major depression. The 2024 meta-analysis by Ji et al. concluded that PBM had a statistically significant antidepressant effect, while emphasising that the total number of robust trials is still modest and more research is needed. ResearchGate+3Frontiers+3PMC+3

To be crystal clear:

  • PBM is not yet a standard NHS treatment for SAD.

  • The best evidence base so far is in general depression, anxiety, cognition and pain.

But mechanistically, it makes sense that winter depression – which is part circadian, part energy-availability problem – might respond well to a combination of:

  • Bright, daytime light exposure for the clock

  • Red/NIR light to support cellular energy in brain and body

That’s the space True Athletic Fitness and True Athletic Lights are playing in.

Athletes, winter and the quiet slide into hibernation mode

You see the pattern every year in gyms and clubs across the UK:

  • September: “This winter I’m definitely staying consistent.”

  • November: “I’ll just deload… maybe until March.”

It’s not laziness; it’s biology plus environment.

Research consistently shows that physical activity levels drop in colder, darker months, particularly in northern latitudes. Shorter days and worse weather make it harder to get outside, harder to warm up, and mentally harder to start sessions – even for committed athletes. Perceived effort goes up, mood dips, routine cracks.

At the same time, those athletes are trying to:

  • Train hard

  • Work full-time

  • Recover from sessions

  • Manage family and social lives

…while their nervous systems are quietly being told, every time they step into the dark, that it’s time to conserve energy, not spend it.

This is where light stops being just a “mental health” thing and becomes a performance variable. If your brain thinks it’s permanently 5am in mid-January, your training will show it.

“But I feel better after a sunbed” – how does that fit in?

Let’s talk about the elephant in the changing room: sunbeds.

A lot of people will admit – off the record – that a few minutes on a sunbed in mid-winter “makes them feel better”: warmer, more relaxed, slightly happier with what they see in the mirror, convinced they’re “topping up” vitamin D.

Mechanistically, that isn’t completely imaginary:

  • UV exposure can trigger the release of endogenous opioids and other signalling molecules.

  • Warmth, relaxation and body image all influence mood.

However, there’s a hard line drawn by the data and every major health body:

Cancer Research UK, NHS guidance and dermatology organisations are all very clear: sunbeds are not a safe health or wellbeing tool, and many experts are now calling for an outright ban on commercial sunbeds in the UK.

So where does that leave someone who:

  • Feels absolutely awful every winter

  • Genuinely notices a short-term mood lift from sunbed use

  • Wants the benefits without rolling the dice on melanoma?

A few key points:

  1. Vitamin D is not a good excuse for sunbeds.
    Most sunbeds are heavy on UVA, which tans you but isn’t very effective for vitamin D synthesis, compared to UVB. Smart supplementation and occasional safe natural sun exposure – when it exists here – are the safer options.

  2. You can separate the “light and warmth” benefits from the UV damage.
    Red and near-infrared light give you some of that “warm, cocooned, my body feels alive again” sensation without the DNA damage that comes with UV.

  3. If someone is determined to use sunbeds anyway, harm reduction belongs with a GP or dermatologist.
    From a performance and longevity standpoint, relying on sunbeds as a winter mood tool is like using dynamite to light a candle.

In other words: you can keep the ritual of warmth, light and switching off – but swap the UV for red light and surround it with smarter habits.

Building a winter red light routine that actually fits real life

Here’s where it all comes together. Think of this not as medical treatment for SAD (that’s between you and your doctor), but as a performance and wellbeing protocol for UK winters.

We’ll assume you have access to a quality red light panel emitting in the typical therapeutic ranges (for example, around 630–660 nm in the red band and 800–850 nm in the near-infrared band).

1. Morning: fake a better sunrise

Aim: tell your brain it’s daytime and give your cells an energy nudge.

  • Step 1: Get some real daylight.
    Even 10–20 minutes outside within an hour of waking, on a grey British morning, is stronger than most indoor lighting. This helps reset your circadian clock and suppress groggy, out-of-time melatonin.Harvard Health+1

  • Step 2: Add 10–15 minutes of red light.
    Sit or stand 15–30 cm from the panel, eyes closed but not covered by opaque goggles (unless you’ve been advised otherwise), letting the light hit your face and upper chest. Use the time to breathe, plan the day, journal, or simply not look at your phone.

For many people the effect isn’t fireworks; it’s more subtle – a steadier kind of alertness that builds across days and weeks.

2. Pre-training: switch the engine on

Aim: help athletes and regular gym-goers who feel heavy, stiff and unmotivated in winter sessions.

  • 5–10 minutes of red light on the muscle groups you’re about to use most:

    • Quads and glutes before lower body sessions

    • Shoulders and upper back before pressing or swimming

PBM has been shown to improve local blood flow, support mitochondrial function and reduce pain and inflammation in muscle and connective tissue – all of which can make the first set feel less like an argument with gravity.Nature+1

Combined with a sensible warm-up, this can change the entire “feel” of a winter session, which is often the difference between consistency and a four-month off-season.

3. Evening: wind-down without disappearing

Aim: down-regulate, improve recovery and sleep without pushing the brain deeper into “permanent hibernation” mode.

  • Keep overhead and blue light lower after about 9 pm where possible.

  • 2–4 evenings a week, use 10–15 minutes of red light over the neck, upper back or anywhere that’s tight and overworked.

  • Pair it with light stretching, breathwork or reading instead of scrolling.

Several PBM studies report improvements in sleep quality and reduced night-time awakenings in people with mood disorders and chronic conditions. For athletes, better sleep architecture is often the cheapest performance upgrade available.

What this looks like in real people’s lives

For the office worker who leaves home and returns in darkness:

  • Morning: daylight + red light while you drink coffee or look over your diary

  • Lunchtime: a short outdoor walk rather than another 20 minutes under LEDs

  • Evening: red light as a transition from “work head” to “home head”, instead of collapsing straight into screens

For the athlete who always disappears after October:

  • Non-negotiable daylight exposure most days (even if that means shifting a few sessions earlier or at weekends)

  • Red light before key training sessions and after heavy blocks

  • Acknowledging that winter might be a phase for slightly more strength/skill, slightly less volume – working with biology, not just shouting at it

For coaches, gyms and performance facilities:

  • Integrating red light setups (like True Athletic Lights rigs) into winter programming as more than a “recovery toy” – framing them as a way to support adherence, mood and nervous system resilience for members and athletes.

A note on mental health, because this matters

If reading this, you recognise not just “winter blues” but persistent low mood, loss of interest, hopelessness or thoughts of self-harm, then red light is not the main conversation.

In that case, the priority in the UK is:

  • Speaking to your GP

  • Accessing local NHS mental health or talking therapy services

Light, training, nutrition and red-light panels are tools – powerful ones – but they’re additions, not replacements, for proper mental health care.

Changing the script on UK winter

We can’t control the latitude, the weather or the 4 pm sunsets. But we can control the light environment we live and train in.

Red light therapy won’t magically turn February into Ibiza, and it shouldn’t be sold that way. What it can do – when used intelligently alongside daylight, movement, decent sleep and, where needed, professional support – is:

  • Make winter less of a hit to your mood

  • Keep your energy and recovery closer to summer levels

  • Help athletes and everyday movers stay in the game instead of quietly hibernating until spring

At True Athletic Fitness and True Athletic Lights, that’s the aim: not to pretend winter isn’t hard, but to give your biology enough light, warmth and energy to move through it instead of being buried by it.

The mornings might still be dark when you wake and dark when you get home. But what happens in between – the light you choose to put into your system – is where the real leverage lies.

Truelights

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