Exercise vs Diabetes: Aerobic, Resistance or Both?

There's always been a great debate regarding the best type of exercise, kind of like white meat versus dark.  Of course, we can all agree that the best exercise is the one that you'll do regularly.  But take it a step further.  Isn't aerobic exercise better for burning fat?  And won't resistance training make you bulky like those bodybuilders?  I'm not going to be able to dispel those myths today but I would like to review a study published yesterday looking at how specific exercise types affect diabetics.

For 9 months, the authors followed 41 controls who did not exercise, 73 participants who performed resistance training only three times weekly, 72 who performed aerobic exercise only, and 76 who combined aerobic exercise with twice weekly resistance training.  Aerobic exercise consisted of 150 minutes/week of moderate intensity at 50-80% maximum oxygen consumption.  The three times weekly resistance training consisted of 2 sets of 4 upper body exercises, 3 sets of 3 leg exercises, and 2 sets each of abdominal crunches & back extensions.  The combination group performed 1 set of each of the above twice weekly.  Each set consisted of 10-12 repetitions with the weight increased once the participant was able to complete 12 repetitions on 2 consecutive sessions.  The total time spent exercising in all three groups was roughly the same.

Let's not forget that these participants (average 56 years old, two-thirds female, average body mass index 34 with 37-38% body fat) were all diabetics with average Hemoglobin A1c 7.7%.  The authors concluded that while the active participants benefited from resistance training alone and from aerobic exercise alone compared to the inactive controls, only combination physical activity was associated with improvement in sugar control compared to controls, enough to decrease cardiovascular & microvascular events.

In reality, these findings shouldn't surprise us.  In fact, a similar size study but of shorter duration demonstrated the same findings 3 years ago.  I've reviewed a number of studies demonstrating the benefit of various exercises and levels of physical activity in disparate populations.  This just adds to the preponderance of evidence that we need to start getting active in one form or another, preferably both.  For today, let's do some resistance exercises before our big meal, after which we can then attempt to walk off the calories. 

And let's all be thankful for the men & women (and their families) who (have) put themselves in harm's way to allow us to sit down with our loved ones to celebrate, worship, and speak without fear of reprisal.  We owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.