Shorter-duration and low-intensity exercise programs provide greater pain relief than longer and more vigorous programs, an umbrella review reveals.

The Adelaide University review — which included 157 systematic reviews, 2736 randomised controlled trials and more than 220,000 participants — found that 120 minutes a week of low-intensity exercise for less than 12 weeks yielded the most significant analgesic effects.

The review demonstrated these results across both acute and chronic pain types, as well as a range of conditions, including musculoskeletal, neurological, inflammatory and cancer diagnoses.  

The data also showed that exercise reduced pain by approximately 1.1 points on a 0-10 scale (95% CI: -1.48 to -0.71, p <0.01). This reduction was approximately 60% larger than the aggregated pain relief scores reported across 42 randomised controlled trials when taking opioid medication for chronic non-cancer pain.