Background: Lack of time is often cited by persons with type 2 diabetes for non-participation in regular exercise. This highlights the need to explores ways to help persons with type 2 diabetes to engage in an active lifestyle. This study evaluated the effect of a short duration norm intensity exercise on blood glucose and blood pressure in persons with type 2 diabetes.
Methods: Twenty persons with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to either training group (n = 10) or control group (n = 10). The training group received 4-weeks ambulatory training on a motor-driven treadmill (2 x 20 min per week at 60% target heart rate). The control group received no training. Blood glucose, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were assessed before and after the 4-weeks training. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to examine training effect.
Results: Training significantly improved blood glucose (mean difference = -2.73; p = 0.03). No effects were found for systolic blood pressure (mean difference = -0.30; p = 0.96) and diastolic blood pressure (mean difference = -0.90; p = 0.82).
Conclusion: Training improved blood glucose but not blood pressure. A short-duration ambulatory training is an appropriate exercise mode to elicit beneficial effect, and exercise adoption in persons with type 2 diabetes.
Trial registration: This pilot trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry at pactr.samrc.ac.za (PACTR202306601940612).
Copyright: © 2024 Abonie et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.