People who suffer with chronic pain and fatigue because of fibromyalgia may benefit from exercise, new research shows.

Higher physical fitness was linked to lower levels of pain, less psychological overreaction to pain, and higher chronic-pain tolerance in women with fibromyalgia, according to the study by researchers with the University of Granada's physical education and sport department in Granada, Spain.

In addition, the study found muscle strength and flexibility and aerobic fitness appeared to have independent, combined effects on pain levels and negative psychological factors, MedPage Today reports.

"These results might have implications for future intervention studies in this population," wrote investigators in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

The findings are based on a study of 468 female fibromyalgia patients from the southern region of Andalusia.