LAUSR

Studies assessing athletes’ pain sensitivity yield inconsistent data, which demonstrate either increased pain threshold and tolerance in athletes than controls or similar thresholds. This inconsistency may result from the variability in the type of sport practiced by the athletes and its effect on pain perception. For example, endurance athletes perform continuous intense exercise for prolonged durations, whereas strength athletes perform short bouts of extreme efforts. Consequently, endurance athletes may tolerate and modulate pain better than strength athletes. This hypothesis was tested by comparing pain perception of endurance athletes with that of strength athletes.