07 Aug Interval Training Beats Continuous Exercise For Glucose Control

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Kristian Karstoft MD
The Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism and The Centre for Physical Activity ResearchDepartment of Infectious Diseases and CMRC, Rigshospitalet
Faculty of Health Sciences,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Karstoft: Four months of Interval-walking training (IWT; five sessions/week, one hour/session) in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus maintained insulin secretion, improved insulin sensitivity index and disposition index in opposition to energy-expenditure and time-duration matched continuous walking training (CWT).

Medical Research: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Karstoft: The clear difference in above-standing outcomes between the two training groups was unexpected due to a very careful (and successful) matching of the training interventions.

Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Karstoft: These results suggest that training with alternating intensity, and not just training volume and mean intensity, is a key determinant of changes in whole body glucose disposal in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Karstoft: It is unclear if these beneficial effec of IWT compared to CWT on glucose disposal extrapolate to hard endpoints in the long term must be determined in order to justify the clinical utility of interval training for individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Citation:

Kristian Karstoft et al. Mechanisms behind the superior effects of interval vs continuous training on glycaemic control in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled trial. Diabetologia, August 2014 DOI: 10.1007/s00125-014-3334-5

Last Updated on August 7, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD