Research

Hormonal

Moderate-intensity, high-volume resistance training significantly improves insulin sensitivity in nonobese NIDDM patients without altering maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max).

If you have type 2 diabetes and are not obese, performing resistance training 5 days a week for 4-6 weeks using moderate weights with higher repetitions (10-20 reps) can significantly improve how your body handles insulin. You do not need to lose weight or improve your cardiovascular endurance (VO2max) to see these metabolic benefits.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
CONCLUSIONS — Moderate-intensity, high-volume resistance training improves insulin sensitivity in nonobese NIDDM without altering Vo2max.
Tomofusa Ishii et al. · Diabetes Care · 1998

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial with a direct gold-standard measurement (hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp), though the sample size is small (n=9).

Source

Resistance Training Improves Insulin Sensitivity in NIDDM Subjects Without Altering Maximal Oxygen Uptake

Tomofusa Ishii et al. · Diabetes Care · 1998

DOI 10.2337/diacare.21.8.1353

rct · n=17Cited 276×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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