Resistance Training May Help Fibromyalgia

People with fibromyalgia generally complain of fatigue but a new study shows resistance training may help.

An estimated 10 million Americans are affected with fibromyalgia, which is a characterized by persistent widespread pain, increased pain sensitivity and tenderness, as well as reduced muscle strength.

Previous research shows that exercise helps fibromyalgia, but it isn’t known which types are the most beneficial. So Swedish researchers developed an experiment to look at the effects of a progressive resistance exercise program. Progressive resistance is a form of exercise that improves muscular strength and endurance with bands, weighted bars or dumbbells or using certain types of exercise machines.

Their research trial involved 130 women, ages 22-64, with fibromyalgia who were divided into two groups. Those in the intervention arm worked out twice a week for 15 weeks in physiotherapy clinics, doing 50 minutes of resistance exercise targeting large muscle groups in the trunk and all four extremities.

At the conclusion of the program, those in the exercise group demonstrated a significantly greater improvement in several measurements of fatigue, including general, physical and mental fatigue, as well as lessened pain and better general health.

Although the improvements in fatigue were not that large, the finding is valuable when you consider that fibromyalgia patients generally describe themselves as becoming tired after doing very little, say the authors of the study, which appears in Arthritis Research and Therapy.