"Activity pacing is a widely accepted pain management strategy and refers to dividing the patient's daily activities/exercise into manageable portions that do not exacerbate their symptoms (Andrews, Strong, & Meredith, 2012). Effective pacing, i.e. finding the appropriate amount and intensity of physical activity, promotes confidence and reassurance that it is safe to engage in activity and provides the foundation for progressive overload or pacing up throughout treatment."
"While clinicians should aim to gradually increase exercise intensity and apply the principles of progressive overload as the patient's confidence and exercise tolerance improve, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that simply assisting patients to become more active and setting goals around increasing their activity levels can be beneficial."
Booth, J., Moseley, G., Schiltenwolf, M., Cashin, A., Davies, M., & Hübscher, M. (2017). Exercise for chronic musculoskeletal pain: A biopsychosocial approach. Musculoskeletal Care, 15(4), 413-421