Weight training linked to lower diabetes risk: Study
Part-time sales assistant Tan Soh Yah, 65, goes for weight training almost every weekday. She can lift dumbbells of up to 5kg. -- ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
(REUTERS) - Weight training, and not just cardio workouts, is linked to a lower risk of developing diabetes, according to a United States study.
"We all know that aerobic exercise is beneficial for diabetes - many studies have looked at that - but no studies have looked at weight training," said study leader Frank Hu, at the Harvard School of Public Health.
"This study suggests that weight training is important for diabetes, and probably as important as aerobic training."
Mr Hu and his colleagues, whose report was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, used data on more than 32,000 male health professionals, who answered questionnaires every two years from 1990 to 2008.
"We all know that aerobic exercise is beneficial for diabetes - many studies have looked at that - but no studies have looked at weight training," said study leader Frank Hu, at the Harvard School of Public Health.
"This study suggests that weight training is important for diabetes, and probably as important as aerobic training."
Mr Hu and his colleagues, whose report was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, used data on more than 32,000 male health professionals, who answered questionnaires every two years from 1990 to 2008.