Strength Training and Aerobic Exercise Combo Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Functional Limitations

Combining resistance training with aerobic exercise is the best strategy for simultaneously reducing insulin resistance and improving functional limitations in obese older adults, according to a new report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.*

In this study, 136 sedentary, abdominally obese older adults with some degree of insulin resistance were randomly assigned to one of four groups for six months. Subjects in one group engaged in resistance exercise (strength training) only; another group of subjects did aerobic exercise; a third performed both forms of exercise; and the control group remained sedentary.

After controlling for other factors, such as age, sex, and baseline insulin resistance values, investigators determined that engaging in both aerobics and strength training yields improvements in both insulin sensitivity and functional limitations better than doing either form of exercise alone or being sedentary.

"The combination...was the optimal exercise strategy for simultaneous reduction in insulin resistance and functional limitation,"

the researchers concluded.

-Dale Kiefer

* Davidson LE, Hudson R, Kilpatrick K, et al. Effects of exercise modality on insulin resistance and functional limitation in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Jan 26;169(2):122-31.