Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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19.08.2014 |
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Being fit dulls pain
If you are plagued by pain you could consider taking up running, cycling or rowing. The fitter you are, the better you can withstand pain, according to neurologists at the University of New South Wales.
Pain
Strength training has no effect on pain tolerance however, according to the researchers, but men who cycled and did weight training were just as resilient to pain as men who only cycled.
Experimental setup
A control group did not cycle.
Before starting training and afterwards the subjects had to squeeze hand grippers while the researchers had bound a strap around their upper arm to restrict the blood supply.
Less pain
Click on the figure for a larger version.
The subjects who had cycled were able to keep the gripper squeezed for longer, and this was because they were better able to withstand the pain.
When the researchers measured the amount that the subjects' oxygen uptake capacity had increased or decreased, they saw that an increase in capacity was correlated with an increase in the amount of time that the students could keep the spring squeezed.
Conclusion
"Increasing pain tolerance in these patients through regular aerobic training may facilitate more exercise as well as exercise at a higher intensity, which may provide greater clinical benefits."
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