Arthritis care & research
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Arthritis care & research · Jan 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialExperimental knee joint pain during strength training and muscle strength gain in healthy subjects: a randomized controlled trial.
Knee joint pain and reduced quadriceps strength are cardinal symptoms in many knee pathologies. In people with painful knee pathologies, quadriceps exercise reduces pain, improves physical function, and increases muscle strength. A general assumption is that pain compromises muscle function and thus may prevent effective rehabilitation. This study evaluated the effects of experimental knee joint pain during quadriceps strength training on muscle strength gain in healthy individuals. ⋯ Experimental knee joint pain improved the training-induced gain in muscle strength following 8 weeks of quadriceps training. It remains to be studied whether knee joint pain has a positive effect on strength gain in patients with knee pathology.