Effects of Time Efficient Low-volume Interval Exercise on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes

The world prevalence of diabetes mellitus for 2010 is estimated to 6.4 % of the adult population, and an increase up to 7.7 % is expected before 2030. 90-95 % individuals with diabetes have type 2 diabetes (T2D).

The complications of T2D lead to substantially increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the development of heart failure. CVD is the most common cause of death in European adults with diabetes, and the risk of developing CVD is double of that observed in individuals without diabetes. Lowering HbA1c in type 2 diabetes decreases the absolute risk of developing CVD by 5-17 %, as well as decreasing all-cause mortality by 6-15 %.

Individuals with T2D are recommended to exercise moderately or vigorously for at least 150 minutes per week. However, the majority of adults fail to meet the guidelines for even the minimum amount of physical activity, and lack of time is often cited as the main reason.

This research group has previously shown that 4x4 minute high intensity aerobic interval training (AIT) yields significantly greater response on HbA1c, BMI and diastolic dysfunction in patients with T2D with duration <10years in contrast to present recommendations. AIT reduces cardiovascular risk factors more than moderate continuous training in patients with heart failure and metabolic syndrome. In metabolic syndrome, AIT is superior in enhancing endothelial function, insulin signaling in fat and skeletal muscle and in reducing blood glucose. This shows that AIT is a time-efficient and highly effective form of exercise for both patients with T2D and other patient groups.

Recently, even lower training volumes than made use of in the projects presented above, have shown indications of improving glycaemic control in T2D. Only two weeks with a total of six sessions of high intensity training reduces blood glucose significantly in individuals with T2D. Even shorter intervals of all-out activity (2-7 bouts of 20-30 seconds of supramaximal ergometer cycling) was shown to improve both aerobic capacity and a number of metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors after few weeks of training.