Resistance training can decrease blood glucose, reduce fat volume and increase muscle mass, but whether long term resistance training can prevent type 2 diabetes and reduce cardiovascular risk or not remains unclear.

248 prediabetes patients enrolled in this multicentered RCT study were randomized in to 3 groups: resistance training (RT, n=82), aerobic training (AT, n=83), and control group (n=83). The participants in RT and AT groups did moderate RT or AT 3 times a week (150minutes/week) with supervision in 3 research centers for 2 years.

Compared to the control group, participants in both RT group and AT group experienced a significant reduction in A1c at month 6, 12 and 24. After adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and statin use, Resistance training and aerobic training reduced type 2 diabetes risk by 58.2% (p=0.028) and 73.2% (p=0.004), respectively, but neither AT nor RT reduced cardiovascular risk (Framingham Score). In terms of remission to normal glucose tolerance (NGT), RT and AT increased the RR by 7.84 (p=0.008) and 6.68 (p=0.016), respectively.

The results of this study demonstrated that 2 years moderate resistance training has comparable effects on preventing type 2 diabetes and reversing to NGT for patients with prediabetes.
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Disclosure

Q. Lou: None.

© 2019 by the American Diabetes Association.
2019
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