One of the more noticeable things I do is wear blue light blocking glasses at night. It comes up enough with the guys that it felt like the right place to start — and honestly, it was something I wanted to understand better myself. I knew they helped, but I wanted to know why.
So this issue is exactly that. What blue light actually is, what it does to your body, and what the research says about managing it as an athlete.
WHAT IS BLUE LIGHT?
Here's the simple version. Light isn't just light — it's a spectrum, and different wavelengths hit your body differently.
Blue light is basically your body's wake-up signal. It's what sunlight uses to tell your brain it's daytime — sharpens your focus, raises alertness, gets you going in the morning. That part is great.
The problem is your phone, laptop, and pretty much every LED light around you emits the exact same signal. So while your laying in bed scrolling, your body’s biological alarm clock is going off.
The result is melatonin suppression — the hormone your body uses to prepare for sleep and kick off the recovery process. Less melatonin means a delayed sleep window, lower sleep quality, and a recovery system that's running behind before you even close your eyes.
What the research shows for athletes
In a 2025 study published in Biology of Sport — a peer-reviewed sports science journal — they tested the specific timing of blue light exposure on athletes. Sixteen male athletes participated in a randomized crossover study with four conditions: blue light exposure from 7:30–9pm, 9–10:30pm, 10:30pm–12am, and no exposure at all. Sleep quality, motor performance, and cognitive function were all measured the following day.
The later the exposure, the worse the results. Athletes exposed after 9pm showed significantly shorter total sleep duration, delayed sleep onset, reduced motor accuracy, slower movement time, and lower selective attention scores — compared to those with no evening exposure.
Earlier exposure, before that window, showed much smaller effects. It's not just about how long you're on your phone — it's about when.
"Evening blue light exposure, especially after 9:00 PM, adversely affects sleep quality, motor performance, and cognitive function in young athletes." — Biology of Sport, 2025
What athletes are doing about it
A small but growing number of athletes have made blue light management part of their nightly routine. Erling Haaland — one of the best soccer players in the world — has been open about wearing blue light blocking glasses before bed, calling sleep the most important thing in his recovery. Ronaldo does the same thing in reverse every morning — deliberate sunlight exposure first thing to get ready for the day. Blue light at the right time is a tool. At the wrong time it works against you.
I wear the glasses too. And a handful of hockey players I know have started doing the same. I wouldn't say it's very common yet — but the ones paying attention to recovery tend to find their way here eventually.
The two tools worth thinking about:
Blue light blocking glasses — worn for a couple hours before bed, they filter the wavelengths that suppress melatonin. Quality matters. RA Optics is what I use and recommend — mine even have my prescription.
Warm bedroom lighting — in the evenings use amber/red toned lighting. Lights within the red spectrum have no effect on melatonin.
Blue light is one of those things that sounds small but quietly works against your recovery every single night. Something most athletes aren't thinking about — and now not only are we thinking about it, we understand exactly why.
That's the whole point of Natural Athlete Co. Not complicated protocols or dramatic lifestyle overhauls. Just the small stuff, researched properly. Things that compound over the course of a season.
Thanks for being here, see you in two weeks!
— Ethan Edwards
Natural Athlete Co.