Running to Keep Your Blood Sugar Down? Try Lifting Instead

All Hail Cardio: Cardio exercise has always been touted as the holy grail for preventing and reversing a number of chronic health conditions. But new research out of Virginia Tech reveals that weightlifting beats out running for managing type 2 diabetes.

The Study: Over eight weeks, researchers observed two groups of mice as they ate and exercised. One group had access to running wheels, while the other group had to lift a weighted lid to access food. The scientists progressively increased the weight of the lid to mimic human resistance training programs. In the end, both types of exercise improved diabetes-related health markers, but weightlifting improved them more.

The Takeaway: It’s long been proven that both types of exercise play roles in managing chronic diseases. But this is one of the first studies to pit the two against each other in a controlled, head-to-head comparison. And the outcome was clear: weightlifting wins for diabetes. 

Keep in Mind: This study was performed on mice, and while mouse models sometimes translate to human results, that’s not always the case. Also, the weightlifting mice were required to lift the weight to access food, while the running mice were not required to run to access food, which could have influenced their exercise behaviors.