Exercise-induced Hypoalgesia After Comparative Forms of Exercise

Pain testing will be conducted using a Forgioni-Barber pressure-pain stimulator to deliver 3000-gm force to the middle digit of the non-dominant middle finger for up to 120 seconds. During stimulation, subjects will press a button attached to a timer when the pressure stimulus first becomes painful (pain threshold) and will also rate their perceived pain intensity using a 0-100 numeric pain rating scale at 20 second intervals during the 2 minute exposure to the pressure stimulus. This validated protocol has been used in previous research by investigators in this study. This will be used for both exercise sessions and the control session. Forgionei-Barber pressure-pain stimulator will be used.

Concentric testing will utilize a dumbbell with elbow flexion exercise. Subjects will perform 5 sets of 20 reps at 30% MVC. Pain testing will be conducted using a Forgionei-Barber pressure-pain stimulator immediately before and after the exercise.

When undergoing isometric exercise, subjects will perform 5 sets of sustained muscle contraction for 65 seconds using a hand-grip dynamometer. Pain testing will be conducted using a Forgionei-Barber pressure-pain stimulator immediately before and after the exercise.