Resistance Training For Diabetes Prevention Evaluated By Researchers
Gumbo
Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness; Seniors / Aging; Heart
Disease
Article Date: 26 Aug 2009 - 3:00 PDT
Systematic, progressive resistance training - also called strength
training - is a safe and efficient way for middle-aged and older adults to
improve their health. A Virginia Tech led research team that includes
experts in behavior, exercise, physiology, and medicine is designing a
program to help pre-diabetic adults begin and, most important, maintain
resistance training in order to prevent diabetes.
"Much attention has been directed at aerobic exercise for weight management
and health; while resistance training is encouraged to build strength and
maintain lean body mass, particularly in older adults," said Richard Winett,
the Heilig Meyers professor of psychology in the College of Science and
director of the Center for Research in Health Behavior and the clinical
science program at Virginia Tech. "However lab-gym based studies have shown
that resistance training has other potential benefits for prevention and
treatment of heart disease, some cancers, and diabetes, and some people may
find this form of exercise more appealing."
"In the case of diabetes, improved muscle function may improve insulin and
glucose metabolism," said Brenda Davy, associate professor of human
nutrition, food, and exercise in the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences at Virginia Tech.
"But these positive effects depend upon maintaining resistance training over
the long-term," said Winett.
Davy and Winett are principal investigators on a five-year, $3.2 million
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK)-funded behavioral change intervention program to help older adults
begin and, most important, maintain resistance training.
"The project is a good example of the potential of interdisciplinary
collaboration between researchers from different fields," Winett said.
Davy brings knowledge of health and exercise physiology and Winett brings
expertise in behavioral science to the collaboration. "The research I have
been involved with for most of my career has been related to food intake,
nutrition, weight management, and physical fitness," Davy said. "But despite
all we have learned, most people still do not adopt and maintain healthy
lifestyles. Some of the most exciting scientific advances in years to come
will be how to help people improve health behaviors long-term."
Winett said, "A lot of programs have helped people initiate health
behaviors - stop smoking or start walking, for instance - but they have not
been very successful at helping people maintain these behaviors."
National data indicate that only 10 to 15 percent of older adults perform
any strengthening exercises. Increasing the prevalence of resistance
training to 30 percent is an objective of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services' Healthy People 2010 initiative
(http://www.healthypeople.gov).
Winett noted that studies show that resistance training can be effectively
initiated in well-supervised settings, "but there are very few theory-based
studies showing effective maintenance of resistance training in typical,
minimally supervised settings such as health clubs."
After development and pilot stages, Davy and Winett will conduct a large
randomized trial to see how well theory based approaches can help people 50
to 69 years old who are at risk for diabetes maintain resistance training
over the long-term in minimally supervised settings. "The primary outcome
measures of efficacy will be indices of pre-diabetes (glucose tolerance and
fasting glucose concentration) and strength," said Davy. Additional
biological and psychological measures will be part of the study.
The first phase will be at the Virginia Tech Riverside Clinical Research
Center, located on the Carilion Clinic campus in Roanoke, Va. "Riverside is
a great set-up for one-on-one training during the initial phase of the
project. "Our resistance training program is systematic, safe, and gradually
progressive. It's also very time efficient taking only about 30-45 minutes
twice per week. People will learn a great way to resistance train that they
then will continue in other settings," said Winett.
Davy said there will be a series of exercises performed with 12 to 15
resistance training machines designed to use a different muscle group, all
under the supervision of a trainer to insure proper form. "This will be the
kind of program you can get involved in through a YMCA or health club," she
said.
As many as 200 people will be part of the study over the five-year period.
Collaborators in the project, which is titled: Maintaining Resistance
Training in Older Prediabetic Adults: Theoretical Approach, are Jyoti Savla,
assistant professor of human development in the College of Liberal Arts and
Human Sciences and affiliated with the Center for Gerontology at Virginia
Tech; Soheir Boshra, geriatric medicine physician with the Carilion Center
for Healthy Aging; David Williams, a graduate of Virginia Tech's clinical
science program and now at the Brown Medical School program in Public
Health; Sheila Winett, president of PC Resources, and consultants from the
University of Virginia and the University of Padova in Padova, Italy.
"The collaboration with Carilion shows the potential of the Virginia Tech
Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute," said Winett.
The project's objective is consistent with the NIDDK's Behavioral/Prevention
Research Program's focus on strategies for prevention of diabetes and its
complications through lifestyle modification and other behavioral
interventions.
Source:
Susan Trulove
Virginia Tech
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