Glycemic behavior in patients with type 2 diabetes during a short period of a combined training program

Aim: The present study investigated the behavior of glycemia in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) during 36 sessions of a combined training program. Methods: This is a single arm clinical study with 20 patients with T2DM submitted to combined exercise training (strength and aerobic exercise). The sessions occurred on alternate days, 3x/week, lasting ~ 80 minutes, totaling ~ 240 minutes/week, for 12 weeks, over a total of 36 sessions. Capillary glycemia was measured before and 10 to 15 minutes after the end of each combined exercise session. Results: There was a significant reduction (p<0.05) in glycemia after application of the combined training program in 27 (75%) of the 36 sessions. Regarding the maintenance of this reduction after about 48 hours, no significant differences were identified (p>0.05). When investigating the cumulative effect of the 36 sessions of combined training program on capillary glycemia, no significant differences were observed (p>0.05). Conclusion: Glycemia exhibits a behavior of reduction immediately after concurrent strength and aerobic training programs in patients with T2DM. However, the immediate reduction of glycemia is not maintained until 48 hours, nor is there a cumulative effect of the 36 training sessions on baseline glycemia.