Thwarting Diabetes through Interval Training
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A study performed by researchers in Edinburgh Scotland suggests that as little as three minutes of high-intensity exercise every other day may help sedentary people ward off diabetes. The first thought that comes to my mind is check with your doctor first before doing intensive exercises.
The results of a small clinical study suggested that a supervised exercise regimen of very brief, high-intensity workouts improved a variety of laboratory measures related to diabetes (Note that the study involved a small number of healthy young men). Two weeks of brief episodes of high-intensity training led to significant improvement in multiple parameters of blood glucose and insulin action in healthy volunteers. The six training sessions lasted a total of 15 minutes. Each session consisted of four to six 30-second sprints on a stationary bicycle.
The risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes can be reduced by regular physical activity. However, no consensus exists as to the optimal amount or intensity of activity required to improve the risk profile, the authors noted.
In the past recommendations for improved glycemic control typically emphasized several hours of moderate or vigorous exercise each week, a goal ignored by the general population because of lack of time and motivation. Recently, low-volume, high-intensity interval training has been suggested as a time-efficient exercise protocol to improve aerobic fitness.
The authors concluded, “Our findings warrant further studies investigating the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training in improving glycemic control in healthy middle-aged individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and in patients with type 2 diabetes”.
Well, it’s a first step and a novel one at that. I do hope that a much wider study can be done, one with subjects having diabetes so that the results would have more credibility.
