As the insulin pump is used often in younger female patients the goal of the study was to investigate the glycemic control during the strength training program.
Nine female patients (age 25-38) underwent a strength training program consisting of low intensity 5 min aerobic warm up after which they were involved in strength training program in a gym. The total duration of the program was 12 weeks, frequency of 3 times a week, 8 exercises for different muscle groups, intensity 75% of 1RM, 3 sets/12 repetitions.They montored their blood glucose level pre- and post workout on every session and were asked about hypoglycemic episodes.
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Mean pre-to-post workout glucose concentrations during the first two weeks were compared with the last two weeks. Despite the great variability in pre- and post workout glucose concentrations within and between subjects some changes were observed. There was no significant difference in mean pre- workout glucose concentration betwewen the first two and the last two weeks (8.04±3.11 vs. 7.83±2.95 mmol/L; p=0.52). Interestingly, there was a much larger mean drop in blood glucose after the training after 3 months of the training sessions (pre-to-post workout glucose change: 2.44±0.63 vs. 3.51±1.07mmol/L; p< 0.05). None of the patients reported any hypoglycemia episodes.
As expected, the glycemia before workout was not influenced with strenght program but as it is under the influence of many factors. Nevertheless, the pre-to-post workout drop in glucose increased, probably because the muscle mass increased. The larger muscles were able to spend more glucose and sustaine higher loads.