Stopped: The study was terminated prematurely due to difficulties in participant recruitment. We reframed the project as a pilot feasibility study to better assess recruitment processes and inform the design of a future full-scale trial.
Previous studies have shown that healthy individuals who take more steps per day and who spend more time on moderate- to vigorous-intensity activities exhibit better pain inhibition and less pain facilitation. Furthermore, exercise training (i.e., exercise performed over a number of sessions) can result in reduced pain sensitivity (increased pressure pain threshold). However, the optimal exercise prescription required to achieve pain sensitivity reduction is currently unclear. The next step is to determine experimentally whether increasing physical fitness will lead to positive effects on central pain processing (i.e., pain sensitivity, pain modulation, spinal nociception). The aim of this study is to examine the effects of two exercise programs on central pain processing in healthy sedentary individuals. In case of positive effects, this would provide a rationale for the future to investigate this in chronic pain patients with impaired pain modulation.
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AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
Pressure pain threshold
Timeframe: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after intervention (T2)
Conditioned pain modulation
Timeframe: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after intervention (T2)
Exercise-induced hypoalgesia
Timeframe: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after intervention (T2)
Nociceptive flexion reflex - threshold
Timeframe: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after intervention (T2)
Nociceptive flexion reflex - temporal summation
Timeframe: Change from baseline (T1) at 1 week after intervention (T2)