End Fatigue

Exercising in Warm Water Decreases Pain and Improves Brain Function in Fibromyalgia

Even if you're too weak to walk, this study shows that mild 3x a week swimnastics in a warm, shallow pool results in big health benefits!

In this study, 60 middle-aged women with FMS were randomly assigned to either an exercise training group (n = 35) to perform 3 sessions per week of aquatic training (in a 90 degrees farenheit pool) including mobility, aerobic, strengthening, and relaxation exercises for 16 weeks, or a control group (n = 25). The exercise group significantly improved their pain threshold, tender point count, self-reported pain, severity of FMS, and cognitive function, while in the control group the differences were not significant.

The study concluded that warm water exercise three times per week for 16 weeks effectively decreases the pain and severity of FMS while improving mental clarity.

Reference:

Exercise in warm water decreases pain and improves cognitive function in middle-aged women with fibromyalgia.
D Munguia-Izquierdo and A Legaz-Arrese
Clin Exp Rheumatol, November 1, 2007; 25(6): 823-30. PMID: 18173915