Effect of resistance training on headache symptoms in office workers

Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most common type of headache and is often caused by tight and tender muscles of the neck and shoulder.  It was found that individuals with musculoskeletal pain have a four-fold higher prevalence of headache, however those with neck pain are more prone to suffer from tension-type headache than those experiencing pain in other areas.

Patients with tension type headache often exhibit decreased muscle strength in the neck and shoulder muscles during isometric neck flexion, extension, and shoulder abduction. This has also been reported in patients with neck pain where strength training has proven effective in reducing pain. A study from Denmark, published in Musculoskeletal Science & Practice, investigated if strengthening the neck and shoulder muscles can be effective for both reducing headache.

The study conducted a RCT to evaluate the effect of three different time-wise combinations of strength-training programs, all exercise-volume equated with a total of 1 h per week, on headache frequency, intensity and use of analgesics among office workers with a high prevalence of neck and shoulder pain.

This study investigates the effect of different time-wise combinations of one weekly hour of strength training for the neck and shoulder muscles on headache frequency, intensity, and use of analgesics.

A total of 573 office workers were recruited, the participants has a mean of 4.2 days with headache previous month and a pain intensity value of 3.5 (from 0-10 scale. The participants were randomly allocated to one of the five groups; 3 × 20 min a week of minimally supervised (3MS), 1 × 60 min (1WS), 3 × 20 min (3WS) or 9 × 7 min (9WS) a week of supervised high-intensity strength training for 20 weeks, or to a control group without training.

The treatment-groups performed specific strength training with four different dumbbell exercises for the neck and shoulder muscles: 1) Front raise, 2) lateral raise, 3) reverse flies, and 4) shrugs. A fifth exercise specifically for the forearm extensor muscles was included to target lateral epicondylitis symptoms. Headache frequency, intensity, and use of analgesics in relation to headache were determined by questionnaire at baseline and follow-up.

The results showed reduced headache frequency and intensity of approximately 50% in all training groups compared with Control at 20-week follow-up. Use of analgesics was lower in the supervised training groups (1WS, 3WS and 9WS), but not in the group with minimal training supervision (3MS), compared with Control.

The authors concluded that one hour of specific strength training – regardless of the distribution during the week – effectively reduced both headache frequency and intensity in office workers. Thus, a large time-wise flexibility exists when implementing specific strength training at the workplace. However, only supervised training led to a reduction in use of analgesics for headache.