ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The first randomized, controlled study on the merits of exercise for individuals with fibromyalgia (FM) was published in the late 1980s (1). This seminal study, which compared the merits of 20 weeks of aerobic exercise with 20 weeks of stretching, indicated that aerobic exercise could produce greater improvements in physical fitness, tender point pain, and patient/physician global assessment ratings than stretching alone. Since then many studies have examined the benefits of exercise for individuals with FM (for a comprehensive listing of studies prior to Jan 2006 see Ref. 2) and several meta-analyses have been conducted (for the most recent meta-analysis see Ref. 3).
