Research
Hormonal
Resistance exercise training increases glucose transport into skeletal muscle, but unlike aerobic training, it does not consistently increase GLUT4 protein levels.
Resistance training improves how your muscles handle glucose, even if it doesn't always increase the main glucose transporter (GLUT4) like aerobic exercise does. This suggests resistance training works through other mechanisms to help manage blood sugar.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Resistance exercise training increases glucose transport into skeletal muscle [151–153], and in rodent models it is clear that this increase in glucose uptake occurs independent of changes in muscle mass [152,153]. However, unlike aerobic exercise training that consistently increases muscle GLUT4 protein content, the ability of resistance exercise training to increase GLUT4 levels is less clear (Figure 1).
Why this rating
Review of studies showing mixed results on GLUT4 levels, suggesting complexity.
Source
Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Glucose Transport and Glucose Metabolism by Exercise Training
Parker L. Evans et al. · Nutrients · 2019
DOI 10.3390/nu11102432
narrative_reviewCited 184×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Aerobic exercise training improves systemic glucose homeostasis in individuals with type 2 diabetes by decreasing HbA1c and fasting blood glucose levels.Good
- Resistance exercise training improves systemic glucose homeostasis in individuals with type 2 diabetes by decreasing HbA1c and fasting blood glucose levels.Good
- Aerobic exercise training increases skeletal muscle GLUT4 protein levels, which enhances insulin-stimulated muscle glucose disposal.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →