No Pain, All Gain

Physical activity can protect you from chronic pain, a GPS wearable lets you train like the pros and your weekly recommendations.

The Rundown

No Pain, All Gain. Last year, Norwegian researchers found that among 10,000 adults, those who were physically active had a higher tolerance to pain than those who were sedentary. In addition, the higher the activity level, the higher the pain tolerance.

With this in mind, the team conducted a new study to find out how physical activity could affect the chances of experiencing chronic pain.

Recruiting almost 7,000 people from the Tromso survey, which has collected health and lifestyle data over decades, the team gathered information about the participants’ exercise habits. Then they examined how well these people handled cold pain in a laboratory and later, checked whether the participants experienced pain that lasted for three months or more.

Anders Arnes, a study co-author, sums up the results, “We found that people who were more active in their free time had a lower chance of having various types of chronic pain seven to eight years later. For example, being just a little more active, such as going from light to moderate activity, was associated with a 5% lower risk of reporting some form of chronic pain later.”

For severe chronic pain in several places in the body, Arnes notes that higher activity was associated with a 16% reduced risk. The ability to tolerate pain played a role in this apparent protective effect.

GPS Like the Pros. If you want to take your on-field training to a new level with gear typically reserved for professional soccer players, STATSports has made their GPS tracking pod and vest available for a general audience.

The Apex Athlete tracks 16 metrics including max speed, total distance, sprints, intensity and fatigue. An accelerometer allows you to track force across three axes and this data provides the measurement of force exerted by or acting on the body—what STATSports calls Dynamic Stress Load (DSL).

The DSL basically captures your work rate. So instead of trying to figure out how you feel from the information and stats, it shows you the amount of force and strain your body has experienced by taking into account metrics like your distance, high-speed running, decelerations and accelerations. It’s useful as a reference point to decide how hard to push in your next session.

And if competition brings out the best in you, the pod also features a global tracking database, which allows you to compare your game and training stats to professionals and other community members.

*Fit Cult is neither affiliated with nor receives compensation from any highlighted products.

Extra Point

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