A recent study has shown that a combination of resistance training and cardiovascular exercise is the most effective way of beating type 2 diabetes.

Researchers at the University of Calgary, in Canada found that the combination regime appeared to be more effective at controlling blood sugar levels than cardio or weight training exercise alone. Lead researcher and associate professor of medicine and cardiac sciences at the university, Dr Ronald Sigal, said the findings were interesting because ‘most other studies have looked at just one kind of exercise, either aerobic or resistance’.

For the 26 week study, 251 adults aged between 39 and 70 with type 2 diabetes, were evaluated. No members of the group were regular exercisers at the start of the study. The participants were divided into four groups; the first group undertook 45 minutes of aerobic training three times a week; the second group did 45 minutes of training three times a week; the third did 45 minutes of both cardio and resistance thrice-weekly. The fourth control group did not exercise.

Changes in the A1c value, which measures blood sugar concentrations, were recorded in the groups. A one per cent decline in A1c value is linked to a 15 to 20 per cent decrease in heart attack or stroke risk and a 25 to 40 per cent decrease in diabetes-related complications such as kidney or eye disease.

Blood sugar control improved in all three exercise groups. The single activity exercise groups saw their A1c value drop by 0.5 per cent (equating to a 7.5 to 10 per cent decrease in heart attack or stroke risk and a 12.5 to 20 per cent decrease in diabetes-related complications). The participants in the cardio/resistance group experienced 0.97 per cent drop in their A1c value, compared to the control group who displayed no change in their values, leading Sigal to conclude; ‘There is additional value to doing both resistance and aerobic exercise’.