Research

Hormonal

Twelve weeks of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise improves insulin sensitivity in older, obese, sedentary adults with impaired glucose tolerance, regardless of whether caloric intake is maintained (eucaloric) or restricted (hypocaloric).

If you are an older adult with excess weight and pre-diabetes, committing to 5 days a week of moderate aerobic exercise (like brisk walking or cycling at 75% of your max effort) for 12 weeks can significantly improve your body's ability to handle insulin. You do not necessarily need to combine this with a strict calorie-restricted diet to see these specific metabolic benefits, although losing fat mass may offer additional advantages for fat oxidation.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The main finding of this study is that a 12-wk aerobic exercise training intervention improves... insulin sensitivity (clamp M) in older, obese, previously sedentary, IGT individuals, independent of total daily caloric consumption
Thomas P. J. Solomon et al. · Journal of Applied Physiology · 2008

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial with a clear intervention and control (eucaloric vs hypocaloric), though small sample size (n=23) limits generalizability.

Source

Exercise and diet enhance fat oxidation and reduce insulin resistance in older obese adults

Thomas P. J. Solomon et al. · Journal of Applied Physiology · 2008

DOI 10.1152/japplphysiol.00890.2007

rct · n=23Cited 182×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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