Bodyweight Squat Exercise Rapidly Lowers Elevated Blood Glucose Levels after Glucose Loading

Abstract

We studied the acute glucose-lowering effect of low-intensity, short-duration bodyweight squat (SQ) exercise on hyperglycemia after glucose loading by examining 15 healthy adult males. All subjects drank water containing 75 g of glucose. All subjects stayed in a supine position for 120 min (C). The subjects then performed SQ exercise (10 SQs/set; 3 sets; interval time, 1 min) at 80 beats per minute (SQ80) and 40 beats per minute (SQ40) 30 min after glucose loading. The blood glucose levels in the subjects who performed SQ80 and SQ40 at 30 min after glucose loading were significantly lower than at C, and the glucose level in SQ40 was significantly lower than that in SQ80. The glucose level at 60 min after glucose loading in SQ40 was significantly lower than that at C. The incremental area under the curve of the blood glucose level in SQ40 was significantly lower than that at C. The exercise intensity in SQ40 (4.0±0.6 metabolic equivalents; METs) was significantly higher than that in SQ80 (3.5±0.5 METs). This study suggests that low-intensity, short-duration SQ exercise has an acute glucose-lowering effect on hyperglycemia after glucose loading.