Abstract
Objectives: To test the safety and effects of exercise conditioning on cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, muscle strength, glucose regulation, and lipid/cholesterol levels.
Subjects: Ten male adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and 10 adolescent nondiabetic (ND) subjects.
Design: Pretest, posttest intervention trial with control group.
Setting: University-based human performance laboratory.
Intervention: Mixed endurance and calisthenic/strength activities performed at a rapid pace three times weekly for 12 weeks.
Results: Only one subject with IDDM experienced hypoglycemia after a single exercise session. Both subject groups improved their cardiorespiratory endurance (
p < .05). Lean body mass of IDDM subjects increased by 3.5% (
p < .05). Subjects with and without IDDM lowered their percent body fat (
p < .05 and .001, respectively). Strength improvement of IDDM subjects ranged from 13.7% (
p < .001) to 44.4% (
p < .01), depending upon the maneuver. Fasting blood plasma glucose for all subjects was unchanged by training, but glycosylated hemoglobin A
1c of IDDM subjects was reduced by .96 percentage point (
p < .05). Reductions of HbA
1c benefitted subjects exhibiting poor preconditioning glycemic control. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was decreased in subjects with IDDM (
p < .05), but not total cholesterol or triglycerides.
Conclusion: Adolescents with IDDM undergoing aerobic circuit training improve their cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength, lipid profile, and glucose regulation. Aerobic circuit training is safe for properly trained and monitored adolescent diabetics.
