Resistance Training in People at Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes and Their Experience of Health-Related Quality of Life

Abstract

Background : Research indicates an association between impaired glucose metabolism and overweight, a serious public health problem involving an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, related hypertension, and a reduced quality of life. Aim: The first aim is to assess different dimensions of Health‐Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in overweight individuals at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes compared to a normal population. The second aim is to examine the impact of resistance training on the pre‐post HRQoL dimension scores of the intervention group. Methods : Eighteen participants were randomly assigned to one of the two resistance training groups. Group 1 engaged in supervised maximal resistance training (Bernstein inverted pyramid system: 5 x 3 ‐ 4, 60% ‐ 85% of 1 Repetition Maximum (RM)), three days/week over four months, and Group 2 performed endurance resistance training (including lower weight loads and more repetitions over four months). The intervention consisted of eight exercises involving the entire body. The subjects completed the Short‐Form Health Survey (SF‐36) on HRQoL. The HRQoL scores of the norm population were higher than those of people at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, and resistance training seemed to have a limited significant positive effect on the different HRQoL dimensions.