The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between changes in fitness and changes in HbA1c induced by aerobic, resistance, and combined aerobic and resistance exercise training. The study cohort included 251 type 2 diabetic patients from the Diabetes Aerobic and Resistance Exercise (DARE) clinical trial. Participants were randomized to aerobic, resistance, or aerobic plus resistance training, or to a sedentary control group during a follow-up of 6 months. Results showed that improvements in maximal aerobic fitness (VO2peak and maximal workload) were significantly associated with improvements in HbA1c with aerobic training only and with combined aerobic and resistance training. In addition, in the combined exercise group, increases in submaximal aerobic fitness, reflected by improvements in ventilatory threshold, were also associated with improvements in HbA1c. Changes in muscular strength were also associated with changes in HbA1c with resistance training only. Thus, these results suggest that combined exercise training is the most beneficial exercise program for individuals with type 2 diabetes and improving cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength is related to improvements in glucose control.
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