Acute Glucose Tolerance in Response to Lower- and Higher-Load Resistance Exercise in Postmenopausal Women: Contribution of Aerobic Capacity and Body Composition.

Abstract: Paquin, J, St-Martin, P, Lord, S-E, Gendron, P, Brochu, M, and Dionne, IJ. Acute glucose tolerance in response to lower- and higher-load resistance exercise in postmenopausal women: Contribution of aerobic capacity and body composition. J Strength Cond Res 39(6): e749-e757, 2025-Glucose tolerance (GT), fat-free mass (FFM), and V̇o2peak are known to decline after menopause. Exercise recommendations advise ageing adults to perform heavy weights and low repetitions (HWLR) resistance exercise (RE). However, the most efficient RE parameters to improve acute GT in postmenopausal women (PMW) are unclear. Our aim was to determine how acute GT is influenced by 2 RE sessions of different loads (HWLR vs. low-weight and higher repetitions, LWHR), compared with a control condition, and examine potential contributors. After measuring baseline oral glucose tolerance (OGTT), FFM (DXA), and V̇o2peak (metabolic cart), 12 PMW underwent additional OGTTs (area under the curve-AUC; 2-h glucose) after 3 randomized experimental conditions (control, HWLR, and LWHR). Session volume was defined as the total weight lifted. The Cederholm's index was calculated to derive insulin sensitivity. There was a significant effect of RE on glucose AUC (1,109 ± 234 vs. 954 ± 149 and 974 ± 194 mmol/L × 120 minutes for control, HWLR, and LWHR; p < 0.005) and 2-h glucose (8.8 ± 2.5 vs. 7.0 ± 1.6 and 7.4 ± 2.0 mmol/L for control, HWLR, and LWHR; p < 0.04) with no difference between HWLR and LWHR. A greater volume was achieved with LWHR (4,292.1 ± 1,143.4 vs. 3,888.1 ± 1,042.1 kg, p < 0.05), although it was not significantly associated with post-RE GT. Fat-free mass was significantly associated with Cederholm's index at baseline only (r = 0.6, p < 0.05). Significant correlations were also found between V̇o2peak and glucose AUC for all conditions (all r ≤ -0.6 to 0.8; p < 0.05). We conclude that HWLR and LWHR both acutely improve GT in PMW, whereas V̇o2peak may be a stronger contributor than FFM.