The Acute Effects of Aerobic and Resistance Exercise on Blood Glucose Levels in Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

Aerobic exercise interventions involving individuals with type 1 diabetes have had little positive effect on blood glucose control as reflected by hemoglobin A1c. The few existing interventions involving resistance exercise, either alone or combined with aerobic exercise, while small in sample size, have had better outcomes. The purpose of this research program was to examine the changes in blood glucose levels during activity and for 24 hours post-exercise (as measured by continuous glucose monitoring) when resistance exercise is performed, either on its own or combined with aerobic exercise, as compared to aerobic exercise alone or no exercise. Twelve physically active individuals with type 1 diabetes performed 5 separate exercise sessions in random order separated by at least five days: 1) no exercise/control; 2) aerobic exercise (45 minutes of treadmill running at 60% VO2peak); 3) resistance exercise (45 minutes of weight lifting – 3 sets of 8 repetitions of 7 different exercises); 4) aerobic then resistance exercise (2 and 3 combined with the aerobic exercise first); 5) resistance then aerobic exercise (2 and 3 combined with the resistance exercise first). We found that resistance exercise was associated with a lower risk of hypoglycemia during exercise, less carbohydrate intake during exercise, less post-exercise hyperglycemia and more frequent (but less severe) nocturnal hypoglycemia than aerobic exercise. When aerobic and resistance exercise were combined, performing resistance exercise prior to aerobic exercise (rather than the reverse) resulted in attenuated declines in blood glucose during aerobic exercise, accompanied by a lower need for carbohydrate supplementation during exercise and a trend towards milder post-exercise nocturnal hypoglycemia.