When patients struggle with high blood sugar, doctors often tell them to exercise more. They typically recommend walking, jogging, biking, or some other kind of aerobic workout.
New research has good news for patients who hate running but still want to get their blood sugar under control.
The study was published in the journal Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews. The research team recruited 172 subjects between the ages of 55 and 75. All were prediabetic. That means they had high blood sugar, but not high enough to have full-blown diabetes.[1]
The subjects were randomly placed into one of four groups:
- A control group that did no exercise.
- A group that did aerobic dancing. They warmed up for five minutes, then danced for 50 minutes. They ended with five minutes of stretching.
- A group that did resistance training, such as chest presses, leg presses, pull downs, and shoulder presses. They did 60-minute workouts.
- A group that did a combination of the aerobic and resistance exercises. They devoted a half-hour to each.
The three exercise groups worked out three times a week on non-consecutive days.
All subjects were asked to follow the same diet.
After two years, compared to the control group, the incidence of diabetes was reduced by:
- 72% in the aerobic training group.
- 65% in the resistance training group.
- 74% in the combination exercise group.
The differences in these numbers are barely significant, the researchers said. They show that resistance training works about as well as aerobic exercise to prevent diabetes.
The study authors wrote: “We showed that resistance training is a viable option for patients seeking to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes,” they said.[2]
A New Option for Blood Sugar Control
If you have diabetes or prediabetes, don’t limit yourself to cardio. Weightlifting and other muscle-building resistance workouts can be just as effective.
Independent Healing readers recently discovered the best way to get fast results from resistance exercise. To find out more, go here.
Related Articles
One Egg a Day Fights Diabetes
One Vitamin Can Stop Diabetes
Researchers Discover How to Lose Weight and Build Muscle Fast
[1]https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dmrr.3143
[2]https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/w-rtm030519.php