Resistance training may substantially reduce type 2 diabetes risk
People who perform consistent midlife resistance training, such as lifting weights or using weight machines, may substantially reduce their risk for type 2 diabetes, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers. Combining such training with aerobic activity, and limiting sedentary TV watching, can heighten the benefits, the study found.
The study was published June 22 in JAMA Network Open.
Even relatively modest resistance training during midlife can help if practiced on a regular basis, according to Tianyue Zhang, lead author of the study and a visiting scientist in the Department of Nutrition. “For clinicians, this means it may be helpful to encourage patients not only to ‘walk more’ but also to add simple strength exercises at least one or twice per week and to maintain this habit over many years,” she said in an August 19 Medscape article.
Although current guidelines recommend resistance training to help prevent diabetes, not much has been known about the best amount of training, how often to do it, and its effectiveness in relation to aerobic exercise and sedentary time. The new study aimed to answer these questions, as well as to look at how these factors impacted type 2 diabetes risk over time.
The researchers analyzed data from 143,715 adult participants in three long-running cohort studies—the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Each of the participants had at least three assessments of resistance training between the ages of 40 and 60.
Participants who did resistance training two or more hours per week had a 27% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who did no such training. Participants who did resistance training and also engaged in recommended aerobic activity and limited their TV time had the lowest risk for type 2 diabetes—62% lower than those who didn’t do any of these things.
Other Harvard Chan co-authors of the study included senior author Edward Giovannucci, Yiwen Zhang, Dong Hoon Lee, and Xinyu Wang.
Read the study:
Long-Term Resistance Training and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Read the Medscape article:
Resistance Training May Lower Risk for T2D
