Brief, high-intensity workouts show promise in helping diabetics lower blood sugar

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/gibala2011dn.jpg” caption=”Martin Gibala and a team of researchers at McMaster have found that brief, high-intensity workouts rapidly lower blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics, offering a potential fix for patients who struggle to meet exercise guidelines. File photo.”]Researchers at McMaster University have found that brief, high-intensity workouts – as
little as six sessions over two weeks – rapidly lower blood sugar levels in type 2
diabetics, offering a potential fix for patients who struggle to meet exercise guidelines.
The small proof-of-principle study, conducted on eight diabetics, appears in the latest
edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
It found that a total of 30 minutes of high-intensity intermittent exercise per week,
involving a total time commitment of 75 minutes, lowered 24-hour blood sugar
concentrations, reduced blood sugar spikes after meals, and increased skeletal muscle
mitochondrial capacity, a marker of metabolic health.
“These findings are intriguing because they suggest that exercising very strenuously for
short periods of time, may provide many of the same health benefits as traditional
exercise training,” said Martin Gibala, professor in the Department of Kinesiology at
McMaster and supervising author of the study. “This is the first study to show that
intense interval training may be a potent, time-efficient strategy to improve glycemic
regulation in people with type 2 diabetes.”
Current guidelines from the Canadian Diabetes Association call for 150 minutes of
moderate to vigorous exercise per week – twice the training time commitment of study
participants – which can be tough to manage for many people including those with
diabetes, said Gibala.
He is quick to point out that larger studies are needed to comprehensively examine the
potential benefits of this type of training, especially compared to traditional exercise
guidelines.
For the study, researchers gave each volunteer a baseline exam to test blood sugar over
a 24-hour period, assess fitness levels and take biopsies of thigh muscle to measure
proteins linked to health status. Each workout involved riding a stationary bike for 10
bouts of 60 seconds at roughly 90 percent of maximal heart rate, with one minute
between each burst of exercise. The routine also included a warm up and cool down
such that each training session lasted 25 minutes in total.
Participants showed improved blood sugar levels even though they did not lose weight
during the short two-week study.
“The improved glycemic control may be linked to changes in the subjects' muscles, such
as an improved ability to clear glucose from the blood after meals,” said Gibala. “We
need to conduct further research to identify the mechanisms behind these results.”
The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada
and the Canadian Diabetes Association.