A large review found exercise reduced both acute and chronic pain across several conditions.
Lower-intensity and shorter exercise programs were linked to greater pain reductions.
Some benefits were seen with less than two hours of exercise per week.
When you’re in pain, exercise might sound like the last thing you want to do. But new research suggests that moving your body doesn’t necessarily have to mean pushing through a tough workout to see benefits.
Researchers from Adelaide University looked at a large body of existing research and found that exercise was associated with reduced pain across a variety of conditions. The research included musculoskeletal, neurological, inflammatory, and cancer-related pain.
The findings also challenge the idea that more exercise automatically means more pain relief. In fact, shorter and lower-intensity programs showed greater reductions in pain.
“When we exercise, our body releases chemicals including endorphins and serotonin that can help reduce how strongly we feel pain and increase our pain tolerance,” researcher Dr. Ben Singh said in a news release. “Additionally, it helps calm inflammation and change the way our brain responds to pain, while also improving mood.
“These effects help explain why exercise can be such a powerful tool for pain management. Yet despite the evidence, it isn’t used as routinely as it could be and is rarely prescribed with the same precision as medication. Instead, people experiencing pain may be told to ‘stay active,’ rather than being given a specific, evidence-based exercise program that considers what type of exercise to do, how hard to work and for how long.”
Researchers looked at thousands of studies
Rather than conducting a single exercise trial, researchers performed what’s known as an umbrella review. This involves bringing together findings from multiple systematic reviews to get a broader look at the evidence.
The researchers searched 11 databases for systematic reviews that included randomized controlled trials comparing exercise with control groups. They excluded reviews that didn’t include a meta-analysis, weren’t based on randomized controlled trials, or focused mainly on laboratory-induced pain.
Ultimately, the researchers included 157 systematic reviews covering 2,736 randomized controlled trials and 221,279 participants. The studies looked at several types of exercise, including aerobic and resistance exercise as well as yoga, Pilates, and tai chi.
Less exercise may still make a difference
Overall, exercise was linked to a reduction in pain of about 1.1 points on a 0-to-10 pain scale. The researchers noted that this was about 60% larger than the average pain relief reported for common pain medications in separate trials involving chronic pain.
Importantly, the benefits weren’t limited to lengthy or intense workouts. The study found greater pain reductions with lower-intensity exercise and programs lasting less than 12 weeks. Significant benefits were also seen in programs involving less than two hours of exercise per week.
For people dealing with pain, that could make exercise feel a little more manageable. The findings suggest that pain relief may not require hours at the gym or an especially demanding routine. Instead, gentler forms of movement — including activities such as walking, yoga, Pilates, or tai chi — may provide meaningful benefits depending on the person and their condition.
“Healthcare providers need definitive guidance, not just whether exercise helps, but which exercises work for which patients, and how to prescribe them effectively,” Dr. Singh said.
“These findings should provide clinicians with considerable flexibility and increased confidence to prescribe exercise as a core, scalable component of pain management across diverse conditions. At a time when we’re looking for safe and effective ways to manage pain beyond medication, these findings provide strong evidence for making exercise a more routine part of pain care.”