Bradley Carden didn’t set out to become a recovery technology disruptor. In fact, when he first came into contact with red light therapy, he rejected it outright. It sounded too simple, too marginal, too disconnected from the rigor of science and engineering that had shaped his career. “I thought it was BS,” Carden says bluntly. “I didn’t believe it worked at all.”
Today is his business Solbasius is trusted by multiple NFL franchises and the technology is visible on the sidelines of nationally televised games. What changed was not Carden’s skepticism, but the evidence. And in an industry where results matter more than rhetoric, that distinction has made all the difference.
Forged by failure
Before Solbasium, Carden was already deeply rooted in the world of innovation. He was obsessed with science, technology and engineering and had previously launched a startup focused on wireless energy – an ambitious venture that ultimately failed. The experience forced him to take a step back, reassess and refine what he really wanted to build.
“I always knew the next thing had to push the boundaries of what was already on the market,” Carden says. “It had to genuinely interest me, and it had to be real.”
That search led him – almost reluctantly – to light therapy. After being rejected several times, Carden finally started reviewing clinical trials and peer-reviewed research. What he found surprised him: thousands articles validating the effects of light on cellular functioninflammation and recovery. “I couldn’t understand why no one had really built meaningful products around it,” he says.
The final confirmation did not come from a diary, but from his own body. After suffering a chronic elbow injury from jiu-jitsu, Carden tested a red light device early on. The pain disappeared and never returned. “That was it,” he says. “I knew this worked.”
The experience reframed his mission: to build recovery technology that would withstand real-world use, not just theoretical promises.
The recovery gap that no one wanted to address
At its core, red light therapy works by delivering specific wavelengths of light that penetrate the skin and stimulate cellular energy production. By activating the mitochondria (the cell’s engines), it helps increase ATP (adenosine triphosphate) production, reduce inflammation and accelerate tissue repair. ATP is the body’s primary energy currency. Every time a muscle contracts, tissue repairs itself or a cell performs a basic function, it uses ATP. A higher ATP output means cells have more energy to do their work efficiently. The science has been around for decades, but until recently the technology was not developed for consistent and robust use.
When Solbasium hit the market, recovery technology was largely defined by one breakthrough: the massage gun. Additionally, options were limited, fragmented, or focused more on beauty and wellness than performance.
“Light therapy was actually completely missing from fitness recovery,” Carden explains. “People used it cosmetically, but not athletically.”
Carden saw a fundamental rift. Athletes trained harder, played longer seasons and faced greater physical demands than ever, but the tools designed to help them recover had not evolved at the same pace. Simplicity, durability and effectiveness were often sacrificed for novelty.
Solbasium’s approach was different. Instead of chasing trends, the company focused on building devices that athletes would actually use: products designed for repetition, wear and measurable results. “If something breaks or doesn’t produce consistent results, professional teams won’t bother with it,” Carden says.
That philosophy laid the foundation for what came next: entering one of the most skeptical, data-driven environments in sports.
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Earning trust in the NFL, one proof point at a time
Breaking into the NFL wasn’t a strategy, it was an uphill battle. Early assistance was met with silence or polite dismissal. “You could give it to them for free and they still wouldn’t respond,” Carden recalls. The breakthrough came unexpectedly, via a website survey by the Los Angeles Chargers. Carden initially assumed it was a joke. It wasn’t. The Chargers tested Solbasium’s Helios red light bed and feedback from players and staff quickly followed.
Then came the moment when everything changed.
“Khalil Mack contacted us directly,” Carden said. “He told us he was healing significantly faster – weeks ahead of schedule – and gave the bed credit.”
Shortly thereafter, Mack was featured on a CBS broadcast using Solbasium technology.” It was surreal to see that live on TV,” Carden said. “But more importantly, it confirmed that this was working at the highest level.”
From that point on, adoption accelerated. Today, several NFL teams are actively testing Solbasium products, and red light therapy in some form is now commonplace in league facilities.
Validation at a professional level was one thing. Translating that evidence into everyday training environments required a different kind of expertise. That bridge came in the form of Gunnar Peterson, whose decades of career training elite athletes—from NBA champions to Hollywood’s most physically demanding roles—has given him a rare insight into how recovery actually fits into performance.
For Solbasium, Peterson’s involvement is not about approval; it’s about the application. His insight into how athletes train, break down and rebuild informs how the technology is designed, used and refined. “Gunnar has seen it all: injuries, plateaus, mistakes,” Cardon said. “He understands what athletes feel every day, and that perspective directly shapes how we build.”
Innovation at the margins – and the future of performance
As red light therapy becomes mainstream, Solbasium’s advantage lies in what Carden calls “leading, not following.” A large portion of the company’s revenue is reinvested in research and development, resulting in innovations such as the integration of pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy directly into red light beds.
“Why let athletes jump between equipment?” Carden asks. “No one wants that.”
The company’s work is guided by a belief shared across elite sport: championships are often decided by factions. “A 0.5% improvement can mean the difference between winning and losing,” says Carden. “Red light therapy is not magic, but it gives athletes a competitive advantage. That story matters because those small margins are everything in top sport.”
Looking ahead, Carden sees recovery technology entering an era once reserved for science fiction. “There are patents and laboratory discoveries from decades ago that never came to market because there was no demand for them,” he says. “That is now changing.”
For athletes, his advice is simple: stack recovery. “Red light, PEMF, massage, hyperbaric oxygen – when you combine them, the results are greater.”
In a performance landscape where margins define legacies, recovery is no longer optional. And for Carden, what started as skepticism has evolved into something much more drastic: a system designed to keep athletes available, resilient and just a little bit faster than the competition.
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