A study from Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute suggests that resistance training may be superior to cardio in controlling blood sugar and preventing diabetes.
According to the researchers, lifting weights or performing other types of resistance training, such as bodyweight exercises, may help the body manage sugar and fat more effectively than endurance exercises, like running or biking.
“We all want to live a long, healthy life,” Zhen Yan, professor and director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Center for Exercise Medicine Research, said in a press release. “We all know the benefits of regular exercise. There is plenty of evidence in humans that both endurance exercise, such as running, and resistance exercise, such as weightlifting, are effective in promoting insulin sensitivity.”
To conduct the study, researchers fed mice a high-fat diet to help mimic human obesity and insulin resistance, both of which are major factors that drive type 2 diabetes.
The mice were divided into two groups: one that focused on running a wheel and the second that was made to lift a weighted door to access their food.
After several weeks, both groups showed substantial health benefits compared to sedentary mice, including lower levels of body fat, improved blood sugar control, and more efficient insulin use. However, it was the mice that performed the strength-style activity that were found to experience the greatest benefits.
“Our data showed that both running and weightlifting reduce fat in the abdomen and under the skin, and improve blood glucose maintenance, with better insulin signaling in skeletal muscle,” said Yan. “Importantly, weightlifting outperforms running in these health benefits.”
Not only did the weightlifting mice burn more fat under their skin, but they also reduced the more dangerous visceral fat that poses risks to internal organs.
Notably, the benefits were not just because this group built more muscle, but also because strength training drove unique changes in metabolism and muscle-signaling that more efficiently supported the control of glucose levels.
Despite the evidence pointing to the superiority of lifting weights in the study, Yan recommends that the best protocol involves incorporating both endurance and resistance exercise.