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Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

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Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#51

Post by tom_ »

bigDinosaur wrote: post #38
stanmancan wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10km/h is very fast for a beginner and likely unsustainable for more than a couple of minutes, I would expect most people to be starting around 5-6km/h if they’re a healthy weight. I think the best piece of advice is START SLOW. way slower than you think. And run for way shorter than you think. Even if your lungs and muscles are fine, if you haven’t ran for a while then your tendons certainly aren’t. You won’t know u…

You expect people to start running at 5-6km/h which is about a fast walking pace? That seems unduly slow?

Running is harder work than walking. Try it!

Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#52

Post by weird-eye-issue »

sublinear wrote: post #49
weird-eye-issue wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but sometimes you have to do things you don't particularly like. For example there are lots of people who do nothing but cycling and never do any sort of strength training which is certainly healthier than doing absolutely nothing but they are really missing out by not doing strength training.

I find it fascinating that people who exercise would want to skip the weights. Strength training makes everything else so much easier, even "doing nothing" (sleep, metabolism, etc.)!

Yes and people don't realize how much it helps with mobility. I used to not really train my legs and would just do lighter weight mobility exercises but I was still very stiff in some movements even after years. It was only when I added in proper weight training that my body started to loosen up. Tight muscles generally are weak muscles after all. Plus it's very rewarding seeing the weights gradually going up and actually seeing your muscles growing, not to mention the dozens of other benefits

Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#53

Post by DanMcInerney »

beejiu wrote: post #31

"In this model, mice lived in specially designed cages where food was accessed through a hinged, weighted lid. To eat, the mice had to lift the lid while wearing a small shoulder collar, causing a squat-like movement that engaged the muscle contractions people use during resistance exercise. The load was gradually increased over several days, mimicking progressive strength training." So the study doesn't really show…

Does the average "scientist" even care about quality these days or is it all just whatever headline makes their funders happy?

Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#55

Post by jeeeb »

I have T1 diabetes and wear a GCM so have a continuous view of my blood sugar levels. I also go to the gym and exercise otherwise.

My experience is somewhat different. Even walking is more effective than chess presses or arm exercises for immediately reducing blood sugar.

After an hour or so of more intense aerobic exercise I find it basically impossible to avoid a hypo (low blood sugar).

Simplistically if the effect of exercise on blood glucose is roughly proportional to Volume of muscle engaged x Length of time engaged, things like running should be very effective. The bulk of your muscle is in your lower body and you’re continuously engaging it.

I suspect any decently intense exercise can have a moderate lowering effect on blood sugar levels after the immediate drop seen when you’re exercising, but the effective isn’t huge.

Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#56

Post by tangenter »

DanMcInerney wrote: post #53
beejiu wrote: post #31

"In this model, mice lived in specially designed cages where food was accessed through a hinged, weighted lid. To eat, the mice had to lift the lid while wearing a small shoulder collar, causing a squat-like movement that engaged the muscle contractions people use during resistance exercise. The load was gradually increased over several days, mimicking progressive strength training." So the study doesn't really show…

Does the average "scientist" even care about quality these days or is it all just whatever headline makes their funders happy?

It drives engagement. That’s the metric for why this gets posted.

Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#57

Post by NotGMan »

Sprints and HIIT style exercise is shown to deplete muscle glycogen much, much faster than cardio.

From the top of my head: a 20 min HIIT session outperforms a ~2 to ~4 hour cardio session when it comes to glycogen depletion.

So doing cardio for blood sugar control (depletion) is probably a bad idea/waste of time (assuming you don't like to do cardio). Though obviously it's possible it may vary from diabetic to diabetic and from a healthy to a healthy person in extremes. A GCM is cheap to test it out.

For people talking about gym: legs are over 50% of your muscle mass so obviously chest and biceps curls aren't gonna cut it. Leg work is needed.

Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#58

Post by beala »

beejiu wrote: post #31

"In this model, mice lived in specially designed cages where food was accessed through a hinged, weighted lid. To eat, the mice had to lift the lid while wearing a small shoulder collar, causing a squat-like movement that engaged the muscle contractions people use during resistance exercise. The load was gradually increased over several days, mimicking progressive strength training." So the study doesn't really show…

This is great news if you're a mouse with diabetes.

Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#59

Post by NotGMan »

loeg wrote: post #23
ventana wrote: post #10

Luckily, we live in the reality where every human who is interested in how their own body, and not the one of some random mouse, deals with blood sugar, can order a relatively inexpensive (for the benefits it provides) device — a continuous glucose monitor — and gather all the data they need to see what helps controlling the sugar level, and what does not. Using a CGM was a truly life changing experience for me, and…

Or just, you know, lift weights and run.

Many people have prediabetes without knowing. Just doing this won't magically help everyone.

GCM also isn't enough since you can have elevated insuline for 10 to 20 years before blood sugar starts rising, so a GCM won't show this.

Re: Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)

#60

Post by wincy »

sublinear wrote: post #49
weird-eye-issue wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but sometimes you have to do things you don't particularly like. For example there are lots of people who do nothing but cycling and never do any sort of strength training which is certainly healthier than doing absolutely nothing but they are really missing out by not doing strength training.

I find it fascinating that people who exercise would want to skip the weights. Strength training makes everything else so much easier, even "doing nothing" (sleep, metabolism, etc.)!

I don’t hate weight lifting, but riding my bike is just glorious and fun and has a point (I go to the grocery store and buy groceries with my e-bike, then on multi hour rides up and down hills) so it’s something I actually want to do. Lifting weights feels good when I’m there but it’s a habit I have to build to go somewhere and do a thing. It’s just harder to integrate because it’s not literally just “go outside and hit the trail”.
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