The Effect of Resistance Exercise Intensity on Acute Hyperglycemia in Young Adult Males

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of resistance exercise (RE) intensity on acute hyperglycemia, in young adult males. Thirteen males (age 23.43 ± 2.18 years, height 175.16 ± 10.44 cm, weight 77.02 ± 8.91 kg, body fat 20 ± 0.03%) participated in three randomized testing sessions, each separated by 96 h. The three testing conditions were: control (CON; induction of hyperglycemia with no-exercise), high (HI; induction of hyperglycemia followed by high-intensity RE: 5 × 4, 90% 1-repetition maximum (1-RM)), and moderate (MO; induction of hyperglycemia followed by low-intensity RE: 3 × 14, 65% 1-RM). In all three testing conditions, participants orally ingested a D100 (100 g/10 oz) glucose beverage at a dosage of 2 g glucose/kg body weight and capillary blood was obtained for plasma glucose and insulin analysis at 0 (fasting), 30, 60, 90 and 120 min, following glucose ingestion. At 30-min post-ingestion in the HI and MO conditions, participants began the respective RE protocols. Acute hyperglycemia was achieved throughout all three 2-h testing conditions; mean 2-h plasma glucose levels during CON (7.1 ± 1.3 mmol∙L−1), MO (7.5 ± 0.6 mmol∙L−1) and HI (8.2 ± 1.9 mmol∙L−1) were all significantly (p −1). Plasma glucose and insulin did not differ (p p < 0.05) than CON and MO. In conclusion, this study indicates that hyperglycemia, induced prior to RE, may be exacerbated by high-intensity RE.

Keywords

• glycemic control
• strength training
• glucose
• insulin