Diabetes prevention linked to specific type of exercise, study shows

New research suggests that picking up the weights may be more effective than hitting the treadmill when it comes to controlling blood sugar and preventing diabetes.

A team from Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute has discovered that resistance training — like weightlifting or bodyweight exercises — may do a better job at improving how the body manages sugar and fat. 

To understand how different types of exercise affect metabolism, researchers fed mice a high-fat diet to mimic human obesity and insulin resistance, which are two major risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

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They split the mice into two workout groups: endurance trainers that ran on a wheel, and strength trainers that had to lift a weighted door to get their food, which mimics squatting under increasing loads.

After several weeks, both exercise groups showed big health benefits compared to sedentary mice — including less body fat, better blood sugar control and more efficient insulin use — but the “weightlifting” mice came out ahead.

“Our data showed that both running and weightlifting reduce fat in the abdomen and under the skin, and improve blood glucose maintenance, with better insulin signaling in skeletal muscle,” Zhen Yan, professor and director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Center for Exercise Medicine Research, said in a press release.

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“Importantly, weightlifting outperforms running in these health benefits.”

The mice that lifted weights not only burned off more fat under their skin, but also reduced the more dangerous visceral fat, the kind that wraps around internal organs and raises diabetes risk. 

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They also cleared sugar from their blood more effectively than the runners.

These benefits weren’t simply because they built more muscle, the researchers found — the resistance workouts also triggered unique changes in metabolism and muscle-signaling that helped control glucose levels more efficiently.

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While this research was conduced in mice and not humans, it adds to a growing body of evidence showing that strength training is a powerful tool for metabolic health.

It could also be encouraging for people who can’t do long bouts of cardio, highlighting how resistance training may offer a good alternative.

“The findings also bring good news for people who, for any number of reasons, cannot engage in endurance-type exercise,” Yan said. “Weight training has equal, if not better, anti-diabetes benefits.”

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The researchers recommend combining cardio and strength training for best results, creating a balanced approach that targets the heart, muscles and metabolism.

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“The take-home message is that you should do both endurance and resistance exercise, if possible, to get the most health benefit,” Yan added.

The study was published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.