Despite the positive effects on your health, are you still reluctant to take up the challenge of 10,000 steps a day? A Norwegian study could well encourage you this time to put on your sneakers. Scientists from the University of Tromso have just demonstrated that practicing regular physical activity has a real analgesic and increased our pain tolerance threshold.
To find out if you can resist the pain, dip your hands in ice cold water.
These researchers followed 10,732 adults for 7 to 8 years and compared their exercise routines with pain tolerance. This was measured by a cold pressure test, which consists of immersing the hand in freezing water for as long as possible, up to a maximum tolerance time of 120 seconds (a threshold that no one ever reaches !).
Their findings show that the most active people endure pain from cold water (3°C) for the longest time “they kept their hands submerged in ice water an average of 6.7 seconds longer than sedentary people” underline the researchers. “For those who exercise regularly, the average ice water bite tolerance rose to 20.4 seconds.”
But what the Norwegian study also demonstrates is that pain tolerance changes and increases with physical activity. This is an observational study, but the Norwegian scientists support the idea that the practice of physical exercise could reduce or even prevent chronic pain. This will be the subject of another study.
Source :Longitudinal relationships between habitual physical activity and pain tolerance in the general populationPlos one, June 2023
