Physical activity and PAIN

What if I told you there was a secret to be 2x more likely to experience less pain?

Would you be interested? 

Take a minute..... What could it be?

Maybe some of these came to mind: 

• Stretching 
• Massage 
• Cupping 
• Ice/heat 
• E-stim 
• Pharmaceuticals 
• Complete rest 

Nope. None of those. Drum roll please..... 

The secret; meeting physical activity guidelines. Yep, you may need to read that again. 

This study published in October of 2022 assessed 31,568 subjects to establish the relationship between physical activity and pain. 

Here are some of the findings:

• 12,429 participants reported pain on some days 
• 2,761 reported pain on most days 
• 4,661 reported pain daily 
• the odds of physical activity decreased based on the intensity and frequency of an individual's pain
•  individuals who engaged in strength and aerobic training demonstrated 2x lower odds of reporting pain

That seems a little counter intuitive doesn't it? When's the last time you were in pain? Did you think to yourself "Oh, maybe I should go exercise?" 

If you answered yes to my last question, you are onto something that most are unaware of. We should be asking the question, "Am I in pain because I am not exercising?"

This leads me to my next question, do you know the physical activity guidelines? 

Here are the recommendations from the World Health Organization, the American Heart Association, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): 

• 150-300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75-150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity 
• Strength training at moderate or greater intensity for all major muscle groups 2 or more days per week 
  • this increases to 3 days per week with adults older than 65 

Are you hitting those numbers each week? 

According to data published by the CDC:

• 24.2% completing both aerobic and strength training requirements 
• 22.7% completing aerobic training requirements 
• 6.8% completing strength training requirements 

Doesn't it seem like a worthwhile investment to attempt at getting close to these activity levels? For one, being active is correlated to experiencing less pain. Not to mention the million other health benefits. 

I know what you are thinking. "I don't have the time." 

When will you make the time? 

I saw this tweet by Jonathan Goodman and it hit me pretty hard. 

Exercise seems to be a chore for many until its not.