Aerobic Exercise on Glucose, Insulin vs Rest in Healthy Adults



Aerobic Exercise on Glucose, Insulin vs Rest in Healthy Adults - modernmanualtherapy.com










The Effect of a Single Bout of Continuous Aerobic Exercise on Glucose, Insulin and Glucagon Concentrations Compared to Resting Conditions in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression

Frampton, Cobbold, Nozdrin et al

April 2021 - Sports Medicine


  • Authors wanted to see if a single bout of aerobic exercise would impact glucose, insulin, or glucagon in healthy adults

  • 17,141 potential papers were found, 51 accepted after reviewing inclusion and exclusion factors. 45 studies examined glucose, 38 examined insulin, and 5 examined glucagon. GRADE scoring revealed moderate quality evidence.

  • Results: 

    • Glucose: a single bout of continuous aerobic exercise did not yield significant changes in glucose concentration across all studies (45 studies) when compared to resting

      • Subgroup analysis showed a significant reduction in glucose in those postprandial (-0.27mmol/L) vs fasting (0.15mmol/L)

      • A difference was also seen when examining the exercise modality with a significant decrease in glucose concentrations (-0.22mmol/L) in the cycle ergometer vs the treadmill exercise (0.26mmol/L)

      • Covariates were identified as VO2Max and Exercise Duration: those more fit saw lower drops in glucose, and the longer the exercise the less drop in glucose concentrations

    • Insulin: a single bout of continuous aerobic exercise did yield a significant decrease in insulin across studies (38 studies) when compared to resting: -18.07pmol/L

      • Subgroup analysis revealed a bigger decrease in insulin in those postprandial (-42.63pmol/L) vs those fasting (-3.4pmol/L).

      • No differences in insulin values across exercise modalities

    • Glucagon: a single bout of continuous aerobic exercise did yield a significant increase in glucagon across all studies (5 studies) when compared to resting: 24.6ng/L 

  • Limitations: population is healthy adults (cannot extrapolate to other populations), use of modalities limited to aerobic cycling or treadmill training (no resistance training), glucagon studies had limited sample size (n=47).

  • Conclusion: a single bout of aerobic exercise can help to reduce insulin and increase glucagon regardless of feeding status in healthy adults. When in postprandial state, a single bout of aerobic exercise can significantly decrease serum glucose and insulin concentrations compared to a fasting state. More research is needed on glucagon and exercise response as it relates to fasting vs postprandial.


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