Researcher Timothy S. Church of Louisiana State University System in Baton Rouge, La., and colleagues write in the paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Although both resistance and aerobic training provide benefits, only the combination of the two were associated with reductions in HbA1c levelsIt also is important to appreciate that the follow-up difference in HbA1c between the combination training group and the control group occurred even though the control group had increased its use of diabetes medications while the combination training group decreased its diabetes medication uses.

In an accompanying editorial Ronald J. Sigal of the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, and Glen P. Kenny of the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada write that type 2 diabetics would benefit from this study in optimizing their exercise schedule. Given a specific amount of time to invest in exercise, it is more beneficial to devote some time to each form of exercise rather than devoting all the time to just one form of exercise, they write.