Resistance Training Exercises reduce blood sugar and risk of diabetes

Exercise per se improves blood glucose control in type 2 diabetes, reduces cardiovascular risk factors, contributes to weight loss, and improves well-being. A new study points to the benefits of exercise, especially resistance training (RT), for preventing type 2 diabetes. The findings of the research have appeared in the journal Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews.

The adoption and maintenance of physical activity are critical foci for blood glucose management and overall health in individuals with diabetes and prediabetes. Physical activity includes all movement that increases energy use, whereas exercise is planned, structured physical activity. Resistance training is a form of exercise that improves muscular strength and endurance. During a resistance training workout, you move your limbs against resistance provided by your body weight, gravity, bands, weighted bars or dumbbells.

In the randomized controlled trial, 172 people who were 55 to 75 years old and had prediabetes were assigned to a control group, anaerobic training (AT) group, an RT group, or an AT plus RT group. Supervised exercise programmes were completed for 60 minutes per day, three non-consecutive days per week for 24 months.

Follow-up data were available for 137 participants. The incidence of type 2 diabetes was decreased by 74 per cent, 65 per cent, and 72 per cent with AT plus RT, RT, and AT, respectively, compared with control. After 24 months, the cumulative diabetes incidences were significantly lower in the AT plus RT, RT, and AT groups compared with the control group (21 per cent, 26 per cent, and 22 per cent versus 69 per cent, respectively).

"This study showed that RT and RT plus AT were as effective as isolated AT in preventing overt type 2 diabetes in patients with prediabetes," the authors wrote. "We showed that RT is a viable option for patients seeking to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. This finding further expands established paradigms of a lifestyle change for preventing type 2 diabetes and can inform clinician-patient discussions about delaying disease onset."