This is the kind of analysis that medical writers with newspapers and websites never do. All they do is headline the primary findings -- which are often nuanced or flawed -- and grossly misinform the public. Thanks for your analysis.
I'm wondering If I should have my APOB checked? I am a 61 yr old female. One year ago I weighed 204 pounds. After my Dr. talked with me about my risk of type 2 diabetes I went on a low carb diet. I eat a lot of fresh veggies, but cut out the processed carbs. Eight months ago I started lifting weights one hour three times a week. I also ride a stationary bike for 30 minutes three times a week. I now weigh 140 pounds my last HA!C was 5( eight months ago). I can't wait to see it now. I eat around 120 grams of protein daily. My Carb intake is 30-40 grams daily.
I enjoy hiking on a nearby mountain because it combines cardio, strength (at least lower body), hiit, balance, and core stability in one workout. I used to have terrible back pain. After a few months of hiking, I realized my back pain was gone, and I haven’t had any in five years. I also lost 50 pounds and got to my weight when I was in my 20s (I’m 63 years old now). My blood sugar is great too. And hiking is fun.
The best exercises are practical: like walking to your favorite grocery store and carrying back what you bought, so you do both aerobic and resistance training at the same time!
Dear Dr it’s an excellent video I have been a diabetic type 2 from the last 24 years and at one point my HbA1c was 13.8 and weighed around 241 lbs, I was working out but not as regularly as I am today and as most I also lived in a state of denial as if nothing will happen to me but I did pay a heavy price for my denials. However now my facts are completely different I am very data and nutrition driven and started applying some of the strategies from my education as well a drive to cause a complete change in my mindset, I work out every single day with over an hour of treadmill with max incline at level 15 and then strength train for about 30 minutes. I am no longer a diabetic and do not take any medication since I manage through diet and exercise my diet consists heavily on organic greens and vegan proteins and once a week wild caught Salmon. I weigh 177 lbs with the latest HbA1c at 5.7 and no statins and my Lipid panel is picture perfect. Thx for putting out an excellent video.
Excellent. I live in Japan - an Englishman and at 88 years old - extremely fit - mostly cardio. My extremely clever doctor yesterday told me - work on the muscle. Love your advice. Jack.
The absolute BEST exercise is the one that you want to do. Don’t stress about the rest because ultimately, this study is really just splitting hairs. If you like strolling through the park every day, do that. It’s better to play pickleball five days a week than hitting weights a couple times a month because you hate resistance training. It’s better to lift five days a week than running a couple times a month because you hate running. Personally, I still believe that, all things considered, cardio is the most beneficial long-term health habit. I have added more resistance training and find it very beneficial.
This study is NOT 'really just splitting hairs'. It clearly showed that building muscle reduced the risk of diabetes, one our our worst diseases. If you love cardio, go for it. So do I. But the research speaks for itself. If one is pre-diabetic, as one of my friends is, it is very important to focus on an exercise routine that will deliver results. Especially if time to exercise is limited. Weight-training is what she needs, before pre-diabetes develops into full-blown disease.
@@paulmaxwell8851 And the exercise regime that delivers results is the one you do regularly... I don't care what this study says. If someone walks four miles a day (about an hour) and are diligent about their diet, health improvements will come. If you don't pay attention to diet, exercise isn't going to bring you back from the abyss.
Low intensity cardio, like walking, is good if you are slightly overweight or skinny fat and out of shape, because your body will burn primarily fat, and not glycogen. Combine that with a low fat diet, and you'll preserve more muscle mass than doing intense cardio for weight loss. Intense cardio should be limited if your goal is body recomposition (gaining muscle and losing fat). This is well known among bodybuilders. You should be easily able to hold a conversation during cardio, as a general rule, in order to maximize fat loss while preserving muscle.
I am just lifting weights 30 minutes every second day at the moment. It's spring time here, so my cardio is a few hours of gardening each day. I am also doing 30 minutes to an hour of stretching each day, mainly dynamic. Each seems to benefit each other, and help with recovering from the other. It's more a conditioning plan
Very interesting video. I’m South Asian and a huge percentage of our population gets diabetes by the time they hit 50. Attributing to a high carb and low protein diet and almost 0 resistance training. The older folks with diabetes do a lot of cardio (brisk walk and yoga), but dont modify their diet ton include more protein. Hence, they live with diabetes lifelong. This study makes a lot of sense. I would love to see you talk about the effect of cardio and resistance training on cholesterol and triglycerides.
Thank you Gil! I just discovered your channel and am so pleased to see the way you present the information in a very fair and digestible manner. I am an MD (retired hospitalist) who has been teaching fitness classes (DDPYoga) for 9 years and now I have a clinic where all I do is help people with chronic diseases exercise (increase activity). This topic is so relevant to what I do and I look forward to exploring the rest of your videos! By the way, I overcame diabetes at age 52 (was on metformin). Now I am 62, leaner (50 lbs weight loss) and stronger (with DDPYoga), A1C below 5.7, no medications - I love the balance between fat loss, cardio and resistance training! It works!
Thanks for such timely and critical FACT-based recommendations for both preventive as well as therapeutic health benefits. As a 73-year-old always trying to age healthy and use all the known best practices to balance my diet and exercise. I have modified several of my diet and exercise regimens based on your recommendations over the last 2 years
Best exercise I ever did hands down was cardio mix with weights, things like doing cardio whilst using weights, or body weight calesthenics. This is hands down better than just doing either cardio or weights, I did it for 6 years straight, I was at the top of my game in that time period, then focus on weights and lost my energy, focus on cardio and lost muscle, best is both worlds to do both and activate as many muscle groups as you can in the workout. Unless your body building, you will have to focus on weights and do cardio once a week or something.
In the past, I was an avid amateur bicycle rider/racer with an accent on longer distance events (75 miles plus). Type 2 diabetic at the time, which turned into type 1 1/2 (insulin dependeant). The longer I rode, such as 4 hours, the longer my glucose levels stayed low. But, in the long run, dietary choses ar far more important than exercise. A bad diet can't be overcome with weights or cardio.
This was very helpful as it clearly explained why it is so important to maintain / increase muscle especially if you are lean, and older, as I am. My A1C had increased and I had just entered the "prediabetic range." I started on metformin. After months of reading and research, I realized that I should increase my resistance training (I am 74 and lean with a BMI of 18.9), re-start creatine -- and stop the Metformin (which is a mild mitochondrial toxin that may impede muscle hypertrophy). This presentation really put a bow on it for me. Thank you.
From what I have gathered, it’s no surprise that building lean muscle leads to better insulin sensitivity. Muscles are the biggest glucose sink in the body. Often insulin resistance starts in the muscle almost a decade earlier before the pre-diabetes diagnosis. Losing visceral fat can also improve insulin sensitivity. Within cardio , specifically zone 2 burns most fat. Not sure what was the cardio intensity level in the study group.
It's a myth that zone 2 burns more fat. Of the energy consumed a greater percentage will be fat, but higher intensity exercise still burns more fat overall. It is just that as a percentage of the energy consumed it is lower.
Please don't believe that lifting weights is only for "young" people. Of course see your doctor and if you have specific issues/injuries, learn about alternative lifts. I will be 62 in Jan and I lift as heavy as I can (proper form is key). Resistance training is very important for all ages but more so as we get older. I had a weightlifting coach for several months in 2022 and I still use the program he wrote for me (with a few substitutions for some variety). Great video Gil - Thanks.
The study came out exactly the way I predicted. It's not just building or losing muscle. When you work out with weights, you tend to be working your muscles harder than cardio. More calories per time spent working out, at least during the time of the exercise. As a diabetic I have noticed the more intense the workout, even for a shorter amount of time causes my blood sugar to come down more. I have noticed that I can go for a 3-or-4-mile walk at a casual pace and have my blood sugar stay about the same or even go up. If I walk at a faster pace for even a mile my blood sugar will come down pretty good. As far as the prior study with heavier people, their heavier bodies caused them to be doing weight training as they did cardio. It's harder for them which causes them to use more energy.
It makes sense that fast walking lowers blood sugar levels more than casual walking because the more out of breath you are, the more your body switches from using fat as an energy source to using sugar (glycogen) as the energy source.
Yeah, the more glycolytic exercise is themore blood glucose will be consumed. The closer RER gets to 1, the less fat is burned and the more carbohydrate is burned. Notice from the methodology section of the study, strength training started out low intensity and then intensity increased THROUGHOUT THE STUDY as participants improved. In the aerobic group, intensity of exercise remained constant throughout. So, no surprise, particpants experienced training adaptation that reached a plateau after three months of training. In other words, particpants adapted the same aerobic exercise intensity that burned a lot of carbohydrate on day one...and by month three that same work rate was burning mostly fat. If the AER group had engaged in progressively increased HIIT exercise bouts the story would have been different.
Your body stores glycogen in your liver and in your muscles. The only way to burn glycogen is to do resistance training. The kind that brings your muscles to or at least close to failure. This burns the "high octane" glycogen in your muscles. For less intense exercise like moderate cardio your body either burns glucose or fat. But when you burn glycogen and deplete you muscles supply of glycogen your body's first priority is to repair the muscle tissue AND replenish it glycogen supply. Your body therefore converts the glucose in your bloodstream into glycogen. Depending on the body part it can take up to 48 hours to fully replace the glycogen lost through weight training. That's why weightlifting lowers blood sugar. So if you are lifting weights like 4,5 or 6 times a week your body is constantly having to convert glucose into glycogen to resupply your muscles.
A hard pill for me to swallow but something I wondered about for a long time. I exercise regularly but probably not hard enough. "Skinny fat," unfortunately, describes me especially at 70. Time to increase the time and weight in my resistant training.
Before watching: I assume weight training will lead to the best outcome over the long term as it increases muscle capacity to store glucose whereas cardio makes them thinner and more prone to skinny glucose issues. However mixing cardio with weight training is way better.
I can tell you the person who lifts 5 days a week but gets a couple days cardio in a week is going to be way better off metabolically than someone who exclusively lifts. (Am I’m not talking about cross fit people , CrossFit combines both)
What? Sort of confused by your line of reasoning. I am generally curious if these assumptions are built on previous knowledge? Do heavier muscles store more glucose? I would imagine that performance is an important parameter, and weight can be influenced by various factors. You don’t necessarily require more ATP lifting weights vs quick movements. Weight doesn’t mean you have an efficient muscle fiber…..
You can incorporate indoor rock climbing, outdoor kayak, hiking , scuba diving, swimming, or pick up any sports like basket ball, tennis etc all these train your muscle and heart too , and most of all it’s fun and you don’t feel as if you are working out but trust me those activities require a lot of works so it’s not as easy as it looks but a fair amount of work and training.
Such a great explanation Gil! So, as is often the case, the answer to which exercise is best is: it depends. If able, everyone should be doing resistance training anyway. I added it consistently to my exercise routine a while back just to avoid frailty in older age.
You may have just solved a personal mystery for me. I began a consistent 2 day per week weight training program in January of this year to supplement my 3 day a week stair climbing program. My A1c was 5.6 every 3 months I checked it until the end of September when it was 6.0. I had injured my left leg flexor in early August and was unable to weight train (almost all lower body to use the largest muscles) until October. My diet and other health considerations were unchanged. Coincidence? I'm certainly going back to weight training for sure!
I already know what lowers my blood glucose best. It’s a long distance slow walk. 12-13 min/km. Compared with fast walk 9-10 min/km and playing floorball for an hour. As I’m on ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting my metabolism has changed so that my glucose spike when playing floorball. I know this because I use a CGM as I’m a type 1 diabetic.
Very sensible video and advice. Once again highlights the flaws and difficulties in clinical trials and looking at the results I notice that the change in HbA1c was small and still in the higher diabetic range for both types of exercise where 47 mmol/mol or less is considered pre diabetic.
It would be cool if this was the start of a customized exercise program to reduce A1C, using something like a Dexa scan to get a baseline on muscle/fat proportion.
Such a clear explanation with some scientific context of a complicated issue. Excellent video! If only more of the internet was like this 😂 . I guess not many content creators are this well qualified or even know how to do the right research.
Superior video! Nice to hear the details of the analysis. I am 74, I lift weights 4 days per week, and I have more muscle than the average man my age. Additionally, I do HIIT workouts 2-3 times per week. My BMI is about 29. Granted, I could lose some weight, but I would also lose muscle in the process. EVERY doctor I have seen in the last 20 years told me to lose weight. I replied that Arnold Schwarzenegger had a BMI of 30 when he won Mr. Universe.
As adults, we need discipline in regards to training and food. The motivation is not helping too much, because is driven by feelings. We got to do what we got to do and that's that.
Great presentation! I would like to see authorities advising people to do a 50/50 split of cardio and resistance. I would also like to see people being encouraged to go a bit harder with their resistance training. It might not feel pleasant at the time but it will be worth it.
I reversed my type 2 diabetes using only lifestyle changes. So, I am very interested in my glucose level and how exercise affects it. What I found was that if I do cardio, my fasting glucose is significantly higher right after my cardio (90+). I suppose my body was making its own glucose to handle the exercise. If I do not exercise at all for the day, my fasting glucose level will be significant lower (70+). Since my cardio is about 70 minutes, so I suppose my A1C is likely increased as a result of my cardio. (A1C is indicative of average glucose level.) Let me put it this way, A1C may not be the best indicator for me. As long as my glucose is under 100 after my cardio, I call it good.
As a normal-weight Asian, this video was extremely useful! I've always wondered why so many 'skinny' Asians end up getting type 2 diabetes. The explanation about the role of muscle makes sense! Thank you!
Some people want the exercise itself to keep them entertained: they find e.g. running too monotonous and prefer classes, dancing, and similar "engaging" activities. Other people prefer monotonous activities that allow them to get lost in thoughts or absorbed in some content. Those are the long distance running/cycling people. People who find exercise unsustainably boring should try to move towards one of those extremes.
Thank you. Your show is so informative, objective, and pragmatic. This is such a wonderful public service - an accomplished and well published doctor going through data to help us achieve better health outcomes. ❤❤
Save travel time and money by just getting some light dumbbells (2 to 15 lbs) to use at home and learn how to do pushups and half knee bends. On top of 5+ miles of walking spread over the day. Biggest impact on HbA1c for me though is diet - eliminate simple carbs and grazing. The two together keep my HbA1c in 4.8 to 5.1% range at 69 yo.
I've always dreaded weight training, but working with a trainer has improved that. Normally I'll over do it on my own, then be so sore I'll miss a day or two, then than having "failed" at my commitment, will drop it. Working with a trainer for 30 min once a week makes it less likely I'll over exercise, but even if I do, I still have a reason to pick it up again, and gradually I feel it's starting to become a habit I can maintain.
Hi, I've got an idea for a video, mainly because I would want to take part in it! How about you ask your subscribers to do a 30-second video of "What I eat in a Day" and then you make a video giving reviews on your subscriber's diet? Thanks!
Hello Dr. Carvalho, (Off Topic) How about a video dealing with oral health. This is an extremely important aspect of overall wellbeing and yet I've seen little discussion on the subject.
Resistance training also changes the distribution of muscle fiber types increasing fast twitch muscle fibers. Resistance training should be mandatory recommendation for elderly population
great video.........also, many people don't know that weight training is known to strengthen bone as well and reduce the occurrence or progression of osteoporosis. I do both, but only because I cannot get my HR very high doing weights vs cardio.
In cardio training, it should be determined at what heart rate per minute you should do it, because in cardio training glucose burning occurs when the heart rate is at least above 60% of the heart's maximum capacity, below that number what is burned is body fat.
I agree, I have been adding resistant training for about a year now. Also, regarding cardio, I have added a small less expensive quality rowing machine. It is great for the upper body. Look at cardio that gets you into the anaerobic "Zone". Thanks. 🌻
@@pavolhorvath7850 I have not found any reference that excludes anaerobic exercise from being cardio, A definition of cardio is that which raises heart rate. As Heart Rate is the common denominator of exercise levels, sometimes called Zones, the case is that lower heart rates are aerobic and higher heart rates are anaerobic. The anaerobic zones are short duration. This is also called High Intensity Training (HIT). I will leave it to others to address the benefits of aerobic and HIT.
What a greeeaaat video 😄 it is wonderful to have a person who explains scientific work and how to read it 😎 High probs to your mom, that she does this trainig 💪 yes, the loss of muscle mass of women is much more dangerous than that of men. They have normally from scratch less muscles and from the 30th on to loose muscle mass means for them a higher risk of problems in their older age. So, very good that she does it 😊
Walking will quickly lower your blood sugar levels. I've tested before and after a walk following a large meal. At the Thanksgiving table, you can alternately lift your toes and heals without anyone even knowing. This will also help keep your blood sugar level in check.
In Italy they call the walk after a meal the passeggiata. The Blue Zones studies have shown that it’s not just the Mediterranean diet, it’s aspects of the Mediterranean lifestyle that also leads to longer healthspans.
For would be weight and resistance training beginners, just be careful as incorrect exercising may result in damaged shoulders, like I did to mine. Please see a personal trainer before you start your strength and resistance training journey. Be safe, and enjoy yourself.
It would be very interesting to see some study with resistance training vs resistance training with creatine supplementation. Anecdotally have heard it benefits controlling diabetes.
They have some very nice elastic band systems, where you can anchor the bands in a door jamb, or in a wall. You can do a wide range of exercises from many angles. And these systems are cheap, light, and portable. I recommend one with a safety against snapping. But, a big difference from weights and machines is that the movement gets progressively harder; the resistance increases as you move, as opposed to weights where it usually decreases, and the angles are more free form, less limited. Have been any good studies comparing elastic band systems to weights and machines?
Here is one more anecdotal data point: myself. I love strength training but this past year has been strange and filled with stress, so I've gone months without training. My recent A1C was 3 points higher than one year ago (I have diabetes). I've lost strength so I have no doubt that I've lost muscle mass. Granted, I've also been eating like crap, but as I noted, I am just one anecdotal data point. As for strength training that is fun, anything with a skill component. I used to train Olympic weightlifting and plan to do so again. These lifts require a fair amount technique so the lifter needs to focus. Much different than mindlessly pushing weights on a machine. Olympic weightlifting is not for everyone and a session with a coach who can properly teach the lifts is a good idea. This is a sport; sitting on a machine is not. But the fact that it's a sport is what makes it fun. Yes, I have competed in one meet - that too was fun. Training for a competition creates a goal which makes me more motivated to train.
Interesting. I had not expected that, because leg muscles are larger, and cardio like walking or running use those the most, while weight lifting tends to be more about the arms and they have smaller muscles. One thing though since there is talk about diabetics, people with proliferative diabetic retinopathy are usually told to refrain from (strenuous) exercise in order to avoid vitreoretinal hemorrhage and I think a good case could be made for preferring cardio in that case.
Love weights, I'm diabetic aic of 7. .trying to get it down... 155 lbs but muscular I do cardio 15 minutes a day walk my dogs 2x a day. Intermittent fasting eat 2x a day ..gym 3 times a week and light free weights daily. Best thing.ever. .
A general issue I have with this kind of study is that a given exercise sits on a continuum between aerobic and anaerobic, and that that position can be trained. Additionally, your neural pathways can be trained. As a result, inexperienced exercisers tend to end up more in the overlap area, their resistance training is more aerobic, their cardio is more anaerobic. But "cardio" exercise often aims for a steady state for a period of time, where "resistance" aims for a high intensity for a short effort, followed by rest periods. This could easily mean that the resistance case was doing notably higher intensities for the fixed period, which builds muscle (obviously), which raises both their aerobic and anaerobic capacity for those muscles. For previously-untrained individuals, the resistance training could have built their baseline cardio capacity faster than cardio training due to the intensity of the training. This effect would level out over longer periods of time. To me, a notable issue with this is the difference between the most effective way to spend an hour, versus the more effective way to address the problem. If I only have a half hour three times a week, resistance training is almost certainly better than cardio because that amount of time is not really sufficient to properly train aerobic capacity. But it may be that if you could give the problem two or three hours a day, walking may be better, because an untrained individual simply cannot maintain intensity for that long doing resistance work. And doing 30 minutes of resistance work and 90 minutes of walking might be even better.
Heading for 70 ....been weightlifting since I was 13 ... while I am not as strong as I was in my 30s, I can still bench press 225 at a weight of 175. Sadly, I have noticed over the years, how weak many of the younger people have become. When a guy my age is one of the strongest guys in the gym, there is something seriously wrong. Great video.
There’s a small rebound for the weights groups between 6 and 9 months (cardio-only starts a bigger rebound at 3 months and a smaller one at 6 months). Does it keep going up after that? Does it eventually level off, or drop again? I’d like to see a trial where they are followed for longer to see when (or if) it levels out and remains stable.
I am 48, and love high intensity workouts, but this year I had to re-think what high intensity means for me. I have switched to strength training, and I work the heck out of my abs. Thanks for the info!
Just a curiosity, why would someone recommend a lower BMI (23) for shorter people? Isn't this the purpose of BMI to give a picture of body mass based on their height (and weight)? P.S. I really appreciate the content you publish. Thank you for all the info that you make available to us!
Really interesting study to read and think about. Thanks for the commentary. I suspect AER group blood glucose saturated because after three months of doing the same intensity their adaptation plateaued. So on day one RER at a given workrate might have been 0.9...but buy three months RER at the same workrate might be closer to 0.8! Meanwhile, the ST group started out with an 'initially low' intensity and then both the weight lifted & sets/reps were increased. So adaptation continued to go on for quite some time in that cohort. It would be interesting to repeat this study but with progressing HIIT instead of constant rate aerobic exercise. Maybe an AER/ST/COMB/HIIT comparison. Fun stuff.
I don't know where rucking falls along the spectrum of resistance vs. aerobic, but for me it's a lot less boring than doing time in the gym. I do both, however.
Thanks docG, i did only cardio then i hit plateau, so added some body weight training it is helping me crossing the plateau but had to adjust carbs accordingly, otherwise muscle recovery is getting hampered. And yes docG cardio will lead to muscle loss, and my friends told me i looked weak or ill, so had to get to resistance and body weight training gained a bit but it seems to-be in my quads at least, did notice size decrease in waist area but no change in weight, hope i can keep this up.
Thank you once again for your informative video. I am a physician in Canada who has made an effort to emphasize healthy lifestyle choices for many years . Your videos are much appreciated. I saw one of your videos where you alluded to the JACC study "Saturated fats... state of the art review". I believe you said you covered that study in another video. I would like to see that video where you covered the JCC paper. Please let me know which video covers that topic. Thanks again.
Thank ypu sp much for this!! So timely!!! Recent my blood test shows insulin level to be lower than normal and HBa1c is creeping up (still normal range). My father in Japan has skinny type 2 diabetes and I want to avoid further progress. I am having difficulty finding more information for skinny 55 yrs old female to avoid prediabetic. It seems to be more common in East Asia as we age. Most of type 2 calls for loss of weight. I am trying body recomp but not easy!! I love exercises - HIIT, Vo2max, weights, zone2!
I guested correctly. Weight training is better than cardio when you want to reduce your glucose levels. This happened because muscle stores glycogen. This is another reason why protein is so important. You need to improve or preserve your muscle mass. As for the study, the BMI being less than 25 doesn't mean it is useless, and it doesn't mean someone obese BMI 30 shouldn't do low impact cardio. It just means that people with BMI 25 or less can reduce glucose by using weight training.
Thank You for another informative video. I checked out the link to the study but was not able to see how many minutes did they exercise each week. If you were able to find that out, please let me know. Thank You.
In some high effort resistance training book, probably by Ellington Darden, I remember they did their own study whether weights only, combined regime or cardio only is the best. And weights only had biggest muscle gain and also biggest weight loss. It might be that the cardio compromises the lifting effort, or makes you excessively hungry...
I’ve been combining 20 min of cardio with my weight training 5 days a week for years. When I stop, I get a noticeable belly 😂. When I start again people are amazed how flat my stomach has gotten in just a month and a half. And my diet never changed. FYI: I don’t exactly run. It’s more of a speed walk. Aka granny power walk. Most of my efforts is in weight training.
This is the kind of analysis that medical writers with newspapers and websites never do. All they do is headline the primary findings -- which are often nuanced or flawed -- and grossly misinform the public. Thanks for your analysis.
Resarch writers who publish in onternational medical journals don't do much better.
I'm wondering If I should have my APOB checked?
I am a 61 yr old female. One year ago I weighed 204 pounds. After my Dr. talked with me about my risk of type 2 diabetes I went on a low carb diet. I eat a lot of fresh veggies, but cut out the processed carbs. Eight months ago I started lifting weights one hour three times a week. I also ride a stationary bike for 30 minutes three times a week. I now weigh 140 pounds my last HA!C was 5( eight months ago). I can't wait to see it now. I eat around 120 grams of protein daily. My Carb intake is 30-40 grams daily.
I enjoy hiking on a nearby mountain because it combines cardio, strength (at least lower body), hiit, balance, and core stability in one workout. I used to have terrible back pain. After a few months of hiking, I realized my back pain was gone, and I haven’t had any in five years. I also lost 50 pounds and got to my weight when I was in my 20s (I’m 63 years old now). My blood sugar is great too. And hiking is fun.
The best exercises are practical: like walking to your favorite grocery store and carrying back what you bought, so you do both aerobic and resistance training at the same time!
That is exactly what I do. I also walk to my local university library with books in my backpack.
Dear Dr it’s an excellent video I have been a diabetic type 2 from the last 24 years and at one point my HbA1c was 13.8 and weighed around 241 lbs, I was working out but not as regularly as I am today and as most I also lived in a state of denial as if nothing will happen to me but I did pay a heavy price for my denials. However now my facts are completely different I am very data and nutrition driven and started applying some of the strategies from my education as well a drive to cause a complete change in my mindset, I work out every single day with over an hour of treadmill with max incline at level 15 and then strength train for about 30 minutes. I am no longer a diabetic and do not take any medication since I manage through diet and exercise my diet consists heavily on organic greens and vegan proteins and once a week wild caught Salmon. I weigh 177 lbs with the latest HbA1c at 5.7 and no statins and my Lipid panel is picture perfect. Thx for putting out an excellent video.
That's fantastic!
Well done!!!!
Congratulations 🎉
@@paolah1828 thx Paola I sincerely appreciate your response.
Excellent. I live in Japan - an Englishman and at 88 years old - extremely fit - mostly cardio. My extremely clever doctor yesterday told me - work on the muscle. Love your advice. Jack.
The absolute BEST exercise is the one that you want to do. Don’t stress about the rest because ultimately, this study is really just splitting hairs. If you like strolling through the park every day, do that. It’s better to play pickleball five days a week than hitting weights a couple times a month because you hate resistance training. It’s better to lift five days a week than running a couple times a month because you hate running.
Personally, I still believe that, all things considered, cardio is the most beneficial long-term health habit. I have added more resistance training and find it very beneficial.
Interesting
This study is NOT 'really just splitting hairs'. It clearly showed that building muscle reduced the risk of diabetes, one our our worst diseases. If you love cardio, go for it. So do I. But the research speaks for itself. If one is pre-diabetic, as one of my friends is, it is very important to focus on an exercise routine that will deliver results. Especially if time to exercise is limited. Weight-training is what she needs, before pre-diabetes develops into full-blown disease.
🙄
@@paulmaxwell8851 And the exercise regime that delivers results is the one you do regularly... I don't care what this study says. If someone walks four miles a day (about an hour) and are diligent about their diet, health improvements will come. If you don't pay attention to diet, exercise isn't going to bring you back from the abyss.
Low intensity cardio, like walking, is good if you are slightly overweight or skinny fat and out of shape, because your body will burn primarily fat, and not glycogen. Combine that with a low fat diet, and you'll preserve more muscle mass than doing intense cardio for weight loss.
Intense cardio should be limited if your goal is body recomposition (gaining muscle and losing fat). This is well known among bodybuilders. You should be easily able to hold a conversation during cardio, as a general rule, in order to maximize fat loss while preserving muscle.
I hated lifting for the entire first year. After 4 years (I'm 67 now) I look forward to it. Its almost like meditation but with a reward.
I am just lifting weights 30 minutes every second day at the moment. It's spring time here, so my cardio is a few hours of gardening each day. I am also doing 30 minutes to an hour of stretching each day, mainly dynamic. Each seems to benefit each other, and help with recovering from the other. It's more a conditioning plan
Very interesting video. I’m South Asian and a huge percentage of our population gets diabetes by the time they hit 50. Attributing to a high carb and low protein diet and almost 0 resistance training. The older folks with diabetes do a lot of cardio (brisk walk and yoga), but dont modify their diet ton include more protein. Hence, they live with diabetes lifelong.
This study makes a lot of sense.
I would love to see you talk about the effect of cardio and resistance training on cholesterol and triglycerides.
Which country are you from?
Thank you Gil! I just discovered your channel and am so pleased to see the way you present the information in a very fair and digestible manner. I am an MD (retired hospitalist) who has been teaching fitness classes (DDPYoga) for 9 years and now I have a clinic where all I do is help people with chronic diseases exercise (increase activity). This topic is so relevant to what I do and I look forward to exploring the rest of your videos! By the way, I overcame diabetes at age 52 (was on metformin). Now I am 62, leaner (50 lbs weight loss) and stronger (with DDPYoga), A1C below 5.7, no medications - I love the balance between fat loss, cardio and resistance training! It works!
As always, nicely done. Particularly loved your take-home messages at the end.
Cheers
Mario
I do enjoy your channel. It is good to see you here.
Thanks for such timely and critical FACT-based recommendations for both preventive as well as therapeutic health benefits. As a 73-year-old always trying to age healthy and use all the known best practices to balance my diet and exercise. I have modified several of my diet and exercise regimens based on your recommendations over the last 2 years
Best exercise I ever did hands down was cardio mix with weights, things like doing cardio whilst using weights, or body weight calesthenics. This is hands down better than just doing either cardio or weights, I did it for 6 years straight, I was at the top of my game in that time period, then focus on weights and lost my energy, focus on cardio and lost muscle, best is both worlds to do both and activate as many muscle groups as you can in the workout. Unless your body building, you will have to focus on weights and do cardio once a week or something.
@@GiveThanksAndPraise Yeah that is true also!
In the past, I was an avid amateur bicycle rider/racer with an accent on longer distance events (75 miles plus). Type 2 diabetic at the time, which turned into type 1 1/2 (insulin dependeant). The longer I rode, such as 4 hours, the longer my glucose levels stayed low. But, in the long run, dietary choses ar far more important than exercise. A bad diet can't be overcome with weights or cardio.
This was very helpful as it clearly explained why it is so important to maintain / increase muscle especially if you are lean, and older, as I am. My A1C had increased and I had just entered the "prediabetic range." I started on metformin. After months of reading and research, I realized that I should increase my resistance training (I am 74 and lean with a BMI of 18.9), re-start creatine -- and stop the Metformin (which is a mild mitochondrial toxin that may impede muscle hypertrophy). This presentation really put a bow on it for me. Thank you.
From what I have gathered, it’s no surprise that building lean muscle leads to better insulin sensitivity. Muscles are the biggest glucose sink in the body. Often insulin resistance starts in the muscle almost a decade earlier before the pre-diabetes diagnosis.
Losing visceral fat can also improve insulin sensitivity. Within cardio , specifically zone 2 burns most fat. Not sure what was the cardio intensity level in the study group.
It's a myth that zone 2 burns more fat. Of the energy consumed a greater percentage will be fat, but higher intensity exercise still burns more fat overall. It is just that as a percentage of the energy consumed it is lower.
Please don't believe that lifting weights is only for "young" people. Of course see your doctor and if you have specific issues/injuries, learn about alternative lifts. I will be 62 in Jan and I lift as heavy as I can (proper form is key). Resistance training is very important for all ages but more so as we get older. I had a weightlifting coach for several months in 2022 and I still use the program he wrote for me (with a few substitutions for some variety). Great video Gil - Thanks.
The study came out exactly the way I predicted. It's not just building or losing muscle. When you work out with weights, you tend to be working your muscles harder than cardio. More calories per time spent working out, at least during the time of the exercise. As a diabetic I have noticed the more intense the workout, even for a shorter amount of time causes my blood sugar to come down more. I have noticed that I can go for a 3-or-4-mile walk at a casual pace and have my blood sugar stay about the same or even go up. If I walk at a faster pace for even a mile my blood sugar will come down pretty good. As far as the prior study with heavier people, their heavier bodies caused them to be doing weight training as they did cardio. It's harder for them which causes them to use more energy.
Good point: heavy people are lifting weight while doing cardio. Skinny people need more weight training.
It makes sense that fast walking lowers blood sugar levels more than casual walking because the more out of breath you are, the more your body switches from using fat as an energy source to using sugar (glycogen) as the energy source.
@@mj6866 That is true.
Yeah, the more glycolytic exercise is themore blood glucose will be consumed. The closer RER gets to 1, the less fat is burned and the more carbohydrate is burned. Notice from the methodology section of the study, strength training started out low intensity and then intensity increased THROUGHOUT THE STUDY as participants improved. In the aerobic group, intensity of exercise remained constant throughout. So, no surprise, particpants experienced training adaptation that reached a plateau after three months of training. In other words, particpants adapted the same aerobic exercise intensity that burned a lot of carbohydrate on day one...and by month three that same work rate was burning mostly fat. If the AER group had engaged in progressively increased HIIT exercise bouts the story would have been different.
Your body stores glycogen in your liver and in your muscles. The only way to burn glycogen is to do resistance training. The kind that brings your muscles to or at least close to failure.
This burns the "high octane" glycogen in your muscles. For less intense exercise like moderate cardio your body either burns glucose or fat.
But when you burn glycogen and deplete you muscles supply of glycogen your body's first priority is to repair the muscle tissue AND replenish it glycogen supply. Your body therefore converts the glucose in your bloodstream into glycogen.
Depending on the body part it can take up to 48 hours to fully replace the glycogen lost through weight training.
That's why weightlifting lowers blood sugar. So if you are lifting weights like 4,5 or 6 times a week your body is constantly having to convert glucose into glycogen to resupply your muscles.
A hard pill for me to swallow but something I wondered about for a long time. I exercise regularly but probably not hard enough. "Skinny fat," unfortunately, describes me especially at 70. Time to increase the time and weight in my resistant training.
Before watching: I assume weight training will lead to the best outcome over the long term as it increases muscle capacity to store glucose whereas cardio makes them thinner and more prone to skinny glucose issues. However mixing cardio with weight training is way better.
Would have been interesting to see a group that did the same amount of weights but did some cardio as well for recovery and flexibility
I can tell you the person who lifts 5 days a week but gets a couple days cardio in a week is going to be way better off metabolically than someone who exclusively lifts. (Am I’m not talking about cross fit people , CrossFit combines both)
I was for strength and cardio my guess, that’s why I’m doing both 6 days a week one day rest.
What? Sort of confused by your line of reasoning. I am generally curious if these assumptions are built on previous knowledge?
Do heavier muscles store more glucose? I would imagine that performance is an important parameter, and weight can be influenced by various factors. You don’t necessarily require more ATP lifting weights vs quick movements. Weight doesn’t mean you have an efficient muscle fiber…..
Time ⌚
You can incorporate indoor rock climbing, outdoor kayak, hiking , scuba diving, swimming, or pick up any sports like basket ball, tennis etc all these train your muscle and heart too , and most of all it’s fun and you don’t feel as if you are working out but trust me those activities require a lot of works so it’s not as easy as it looks but a fair amount of work and training.
Such a great explanation Gil! So, as is often the case, the answer to which exercise is best is: it depends. If able, everyone should be doing resistance training anyway. I added it consistently to my exercise routine a while back just to avoid frailty in older age.
You may have just solved a personal mystery for me. I began a consistent 2 day per week weight training program in January of this year to supplement my 3 day a week stair climbing program. My A1c was 5.6 every 3 months I checked it until the end of September when it was 6.0. I had injured my left leg flexor in early August and was unable to weight train (almost all lower body to use the largest muscles) until October. My diet and other health considerations were unchanged. Coincidence? I'm certainly going back to weight training for sure!
I already know what lowers my blood glucose best. It’s a long distance slow walk. 12-13 min/km. Compared with fast walk 9-10 min/km and playing floorball for an hour. As I’m on ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting my metabolism has changed so that my glucose spike when playing floorball.
I know this because I use a CGM as I’m a type 1 diabetic.
Interesting,I may slow my walking pace a little then, I always go hell for leather lol
Very sensible video and advice. Once again highlights the flaws and difficulties in clinical trials and looking at the results I notice that the change in HbA1c was small and still in the higher diabetic range for both types of exercise where 47 mmol/mol or less is considered pre diabetic.
It would be cool if this was the start of a customized exercise program to reduce A1C, using something like a Dexa scan to get a baseline on muscle/fat proportion.
Such a clear explanation with some scientific context of a complicated issue. Excellent video! If only more of the internet was like this 😂 . I guess not many content creators are this well qualified or even know how to do the right research.
Superior video! Nice to hear the details of the analysis. I am 74, I lift weights 4 days per week, and I have more muscle than the average man my age. Additionally, I do HIIT workouts 2-3 times per week. My BMI is about 29. Granted, I could lose some weight, but I would also lose muscle in the process. EVERY doctor I have seen in the last 20 years told me to lose weight. I replied that Arnold Schwarzenegger had a BMI of 30 when he won Mr. Universe.
As adults, we need discipline in regards to training and food. The motivation is not helping too much, because is driven by feelings. We got to do what we got to do and that's that.
Great presentation! I would like to see authorities advising people to do a 50/50 split of cardio and resistance. I would also like to see people being encouraged to go a bit harder with their resistance training. It might not feel pleasant at the time but it will be worth it.
I reversed my type 2 diabetes using only lifestyle changes. So, I am very interested in my glucose level and how exercise affects it. What I found was that if I do cardio, my fasting glucose is significantly higher right after my cardio (90+). I suppose my body was making its own glucose to handle the exercise. If I do not exercise at all for the day, my fasting glucose level will be significant lower (70+). Since my cardio is about 70 minutes, so I suppose my A1C is likely increased as a result of my cardio. (A1C is indicative of average glucose level.)
Let me put it this way, A1C may not be the best indicator for me. As long as my glucose is under 100 after my cardio, I call it good.
As a normal-weight Asian, this video was extremely useful! I've always wondered why so many 'skinny' Asians end up getting type 2 diabetes. The explanation about the role of muscle makes sense! Thank you!
Some people want the exercise itself to keep them entertained: they find e.g. running too monotonous and prefer classes, dancing, and similar "engaging" activities.
Other people prefer monotonous activities that allow them to get lost in thoughts or absorbed in some content. Those are the long distance running/cycling people.
People who find exercise unsustainably boring should try to move towards one of those extremes.
Excellent tips and information 👌 thank you
Thank you. Your show is so informative, objective, and pragmatic. This is such a wonderful public service - an accomplished and well published doctor going through data to help us achieve better health outcomes. ❤❤
Excellent explanation of fat to lean ratios and which exercise works best for each body type.
Save travel time and money by just getting some light dumbbells (2 to 15 lbs) to use at home and learn how to do pushups and half knee bends. On top of 5+ miles of walking spread over the day. Biggest impact on HbA1c for me though is diet - eliminate simple carbs and grazing. The two together keep my HbA1c in 4.8 to 5.1% range at 69 yo.
Excellent scientific approach 🎉🎉
Excellent information
I've always dreaded weight training, but working with a trainer has improved that. Normally I'll over do it on my own, then be so sore I'll miss a day or two, then than having "failed" at my commitment, will drop it.
Working with a trainer for 30 min once a week makes it less likely I'll over exercise, but even if I do, I still have a reason to pick it up again, and gradually I feel it's starting to become a habit I can maintain.
As always, a very interesting and informative video Thanks Gil!
Thank you so much for these fabulous videos! You are my favorite podcaster!
Hi, I've got an idea for a video, mainly because I would want to take part in it!
How about you ask your subscribers to do a 30-second video of "What I eat in a Day" and then you make a video giving reviews on your subscriber's diet?
Thanks!
Excellent, thanks!
Hello Dr. Carvalho, (Off Topic)
How about a video dealing with oral health. This is an extremely important aspect of overall wellbeing and yet I've seen little discussion on the subject.
Resistance training also changes the distribution of muscle fiber types increasing fast twitch muscle fibers. Resistance training should be mandatory recommendation for elderly population
great video.........also, many people don't know that weight training is known to strengthen bone as well and reduce the occurrence or progression of osteoporosis. I do both, but only because I cannot get my HR very high doing weights vs cardio.
In cardio training, it should be determined at what heart rate per minute you should do it, because in cardio training glucose burning occurs when the heart rate is at least above 60% of the heart's maximum capacity, below that number what is burned is body fat.
I agree, I have been adding resistant training for about a year now. Also, regarding cardio, I have added a small less expensive quality rowing machine. It is great for the upper body. Look at cardio that gets you into the anaerobic "Zone". Thanks. 🌻
Cardio that gets you into the ANaerobic zone, is not really a cardio.
@@pavolhorvath7850 I have not found any reference that excludes anaerobic exercise from being cardio, A definition of cardio is that which raises heart rate. As Heart Rate is the common denominator of exercise levels, sometimes called Zones, the case is that lower heart rates are aerobic and higher heart rates are anaerobic. The anaerobic zones are short duration. This is also called High Intensity Training (HIT). I will leave it to others to address the benefits of aerobic and HIT.
@@chrisconklin2981 OK, you are right.
What a greeeaaat video 😄 it is wonderful to have a person who explains scientific work and how to read it 😎
High probs to your mom, that she does this trainig 💪 yes, the loss of muscle mass of women is much more dangerous than that of men. They have normally from scratch less muscles and from the 30th on to loose muscle mass means for them a higher risk of problems in their older age. So, very good that she does it 😊
interested to know the effect on cholesterol and triglycerides levels
Super. Your analyses are always interesting and appreciated.
Walking will quickly lower your blood sugar levels. I've tested before and after a walk following a large meal.
At the Thanksgiving table, you can alternately lift your toes and heals without anyone even knowing. This will also help keep your blood sugar level in check.
In Italy they call the walk after a meal the passeggiata. The Blue Zones studies have shown that it’s not just the Mediterranean diet, it’s aspects of the Mediterranean lifestyle that also leads to longer healthspans.
Carvalho the best!!!!! Thanks!!!!!!
For would be weight and resistance training beginners, just be careful as incorrect exercising may result in damaged shoulders, like I did to mine. Please see a personal trainer before you start your strength and resistance training journey. Be safe, and enjoy yourself.
Yes, injury can be a real demotivator! Warm up with some cardio even if its 5mins rowing
It would be very interesting to see some study with resistance training vs resistance training with creatine supplementation. Anecdotally have heard it benefits controlling diabetes.
Great video, thanks again! Very interesting information!
They have some very nice elastic band systems, where you can anchor the bands in a door jamb, or in a wall. You can do a wide range of exercises from many angles. And these systems are cheap, light, and portable. I recommend one with a safety against snapping. But, a big difference from weights and machines is that the movement gets progressively harder; the resistance increases as you move, as opposed to weights where it usually decreases, and the angles are more free form, less limited. Have been any good studies comparing elastic band systems to weights and machines?
This is so great to know! It makes a lot of sense. Thank you, Gil!
Here is one more anecdotal data point: myself. I love strength training but this past year has been strange and filled with stress, so I've gone months without training. My recent A1C was 3 points higher than one year ago (I have diabetes). I've lost strength so I have no doubt that I've lost muscle mass. Granted, I've also been eating like crap, but as I noted, I am just one anecdotal data point.
As for strength training that is fun, anything with a skill component. I used to train Olympic weightlifting and plan to do so again. These lifts require a fair amount technique so the lifter needs to focus. Much different than mindlessly pushing weights on a machine. Olympic weightlifting is not for everyone and a session with a coach who can properly teach the lifts is a good idea. This is a sport; sitting on a machine is not. But the fact that it's a sport is what makes it fun. Yes, I have competed in one meet - that too was fun. Training for a competition creates a goal which makes me more motivated to train.
You should try Resistance training and Yoga and see the results. Thanks for sharing this video
Such exercise can indeed be very helpful
I know lots of people who would have gladly volunteered to be in a control arm for this study.
Thanx for discussing the outcomes and giving context. 😊
Ive been in excellent physical condition for decades. I can walk, do hiit, weight lift, cycle, jog, etc...my glucose always rises, even when fasting.
Thank you! This is great information.
I had the same result with cardio, it lowered my GLucose for 3 months, then went up again.
Thank you for such high quality content.
I always love your analysis of the findings. I learn so much.
🙏
Interesting. I had not expected that, because leg muscles are larger, and cardio like walking or running use those the most, while weight lifting tends to be more about the arms and they have smaller muscles.
One thing though since there is talk about diabetics, people with proliferative diabetic retinopathy are usually told to refrain from (strenuous) exercise in order to avoid vitreoretinal hemorrhage and I think a good case could be made for preferring cardio in that case.
A well-planned weight training would not focus on the arms, that's usually something the young-and-dumb do to impress people.
Thank you!
Love weights, I'm diabetic aic of 7. .trying to get it down... 155 lbs but muscular I do cardio 15 minutes a day walk my dogs 2x a day. Intermittent fasting eat 2x a day ..gym 3 times a week and light free weights daily. Best thing.ever. .
A general issue I have with this kind of study is that a given exercise sits on a continuum between aerobic and anaerobic, and that that position can be trained. Additionally, your neural pathways can be trained. As a result, inexperienced exercisers tend to end up more in the overlap area, their resistance training is more aerobic, their cardio is more anaerobic. But "cardio" exercise often aims for a steady state for a period of time, where "resistance" aims for a high intensity for a short effort, followed by rest periods. This could easily mean that the resistance case was doing notably higher intensities for the fixed period, which builds muscle (obviously), which raises both their aerobic and anaerobic capacity for those muscles. For previously-untrained individuals, the resistance training could have built their baseline cardio capacity faster than cardio training due to the intensity of the training. This effect would level out over longer periods of time.
To me, a notable issue with this is the difference between the most effective way to spend an hour, versus the more effective way to address the problem. If I only have a half hour three times a week, resistance training is almost certainly better than cardio because that amount of time is not really sufficient to properly train aerobic capacity. But it may be that if you could give the problem two or three hours a day, walking may be better, because an untrained individual simply cannot maintain intensity for that long doing resistance work. And doing 30 minutes of resistance work and 90 minutes of walking might be even better.
Short workouts are definitely sufficient to train aerobic capacity in my experience.
Try Heavyhanding as it combines weight and aerobic training. You don't have to choose.
Heading for 70 ....been weightlifting since I was 13 ... while I am not as strong as I was in my 30s, I can still bench press 225 at a weight of 175. Sadly, I have noticed over the years, how weak many of the younger people have become. When a guy my age is one of the strongest guys in the gym, there is something seriously wrong. Great video.
That’s why I maintain and push myself as much as possible around 34 years old now
Wow! Makes a lot of sense. Back to the gym tomorrow! (Great video!)
Good stuff
There’s a small rebound for the weights groups between 6 and 9 months (cardio-only starts a bigger rebound at 3 months and a smaller one at 6 months). Does it keep going up after that? Does it eventually level off, or drop again? I’d like to see a trial where they are followed for longer to see when (or if) it levels out and remains stable.
I am 48, and love high intensity workouts, but this year I had to re-think what high intensity means for me. I have switched to strength training, and I work the heck out of my abs. Thanks for the info!
Great information Ty
Great video. Very interesting. I assumed light cardio would be best because it seems to have the greatest effect on improving mitochondria.
Amazing "scientific thinking". Congrats!
Just a curiosity, why would someone recommend a lower BMI (23) for shorter people? Isn't this the purpose of BMI to give a picture of body mass based on their height (and weight)?
P.S. I really appreciate the content you publish. Thank you for all the info that you make available to us!
Resistance bands that are replacement for weights are good. swimming or exercising in water body will also help
Really interesting study to read and think about. Thanks for the commentary. I suspect AER group blood glucose saturated because after three months of doing the same intensity their adaptation plateaued. So on day one RER at a given workrate might have been 0.9...but buy three months RER at the same workrate might be closer to 0.8! Meanwhile, the ST group started out with an 'initially low' intensity and then both the weight lifted & sets/reps were increased. So adaptation continued to go on for quite some time in that cohort. It would be interesting to repeat this study but with progressing HIIT instead of constant rate aerobic exercise. Maybe an AER/ST/COMB/HIIT comparison. Fun stuff.
I don't know where rucking falls along the spectrum of resistance vs. aerobic, but for me it's a lot less boring than doing time in the gym. I do both, however.
Thanks docG, i did only cardio then i hit plateau, so added some body weight training it is helping me crossing the plateau but had to adjust carbs accordingly, otherwise muscle recovery is getting hampered. And yes docG cardio will lead to muscle loss, and my friends told me i looked weak or ill, so had to get to resistance and body weight training gained a bit but it seems to-be in my quads at least, did notice size decrease in waist area but no change in weight, hope i can keep this up.
Thank you once again for your informative video. I am a physician in Canada who has made an effort to emphasize healthy lifestyle choices for many years . Your videos are much appreciated. I saw one of your videos where you alluded to the JACC study "Saturated fats... state of the art review". I believe you said you covered that study in another video. I would like to see that video where you covered the JCC paper. Please let me know which video covers that topic. Thanks again.
Thank ypu sp much for this!! So timely!!! Recent my blood test shows insulin level to be lower than normal and HBa1c is creeping up (still normal range).
My father in Japan has skinny type 2 diabetes and I want to avoid further progress. I am having difficulty finding more information for skinny 55 yrs old female to avoid prediabetic. It seems to be more common in East Asia as we age. Most of type 2 calls for loss of weight. I am trying body recomp but not easy!! I love exercises - HIIT, Vo2max, weights, zone2!
Should have used waist-to-hip-ratio as that's a better indicator of health and health change along with HgA1C vs BMI
I guested correctly. Weight training is better than cardio when you want to reduce your glucose levels. This happened because muscle stores glycogen. This is another reason why protein is so important. You need to improve or preserve your muscle mass. As for the study, the BMI being less than 25 doesn't mean it is useless, and it doesn't mean someone obese BMI 30 shouldn't do low impact cardio. It just means that people with BMI 25 or less can reduce glucose by using weight training.
2 exercises per body part is not a weight training norm.
LDL of 65. No animal products. No processed foods. 90 grams of fiber daily. Only drink water and green tea.
Thank You for another informative video. I checked out the link to the study but was not able to see how many minutes did they exercise each week. If you were able to find that out, please let me know. Thank You.
In some high effort resistance training book, probably by Ellington Darden, I remember they did their own study whether weights only, combined regime or cardio only is the best. And weights only had biggest muscle gain and also biggest weight loss. It might be that the cardio compromises the lifting effort, or makes you excessively hungry...
I’ve been combining 20 min of cardio with my weight training 5 days a week for years.
When I stop, I get a noticeable belly 😂. When I start again people are amazed how flat my stomach has gotten in just a month and a half. And my diet never changed.
FYI: I don’t exactly run. It’s more of a speed walk. Aka granny power walk. Most of my efforts is in weight training.
Gil, will you do a video on red meat (cooked in a healthy manner like grilling or baking) vs fried chicken or fish?
Thank you extremely helpful ❤