The effect of exercise training on physical fitness in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

We compared the effects of different exercise modes on cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength as well as the rate of strength development in individuals with T2DM. 251 participants in the DARE trial were randomly allocated to aerobic training (A), resistance training (R), combined training (A+R) or controls. V˙O2peak, workload and treadmill time were determined following maximal exercise testing at 0 and 6 months. Muscular strength was measured as the 8 RM on the leg press, bench press and seated row. The rate of strength development was measured as monthly workload increments (month 1-6) on 11 strength exercises. V˙O2peak improved by 1.73 and 1.93 mLO2/kg/min with A and A+R respectively compared to C (p<0.05). Strength improvements were significant following A+R and R on the leg press (A+R:48%, R:65%) bench press (A+R:38%, R:57%) and seated row (A+R:33%; R:41%)(p<0.05. There was a clear trend towards slowing in strength development in R and A+R over time. In brief, A+R leads to similar fitness improvements compared to A and R alone. Although strength development had a tendency to level off over time, it is important to consider that reductions in hemoglobin A1C occurred up to 6 months with R and were even greater with A+R.