Running is often praised for helping people stay fit and burn calories. But a new study suggests that lifting weights may be even better when it comes to preventing diabetes and obesity.
The research comes from the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech and was published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.
In the study, researchers compared two types of exercise—endurance (like running) and resistance (like weightlifting)—to see how they affect blood sugar, fat levels, and diabetes risk. They used mice fed a high-fat diet, which is a common model to study obesity and type 2 diabetes in humans.
Both running and weightlifting helped lower blood sugar levels. But lifting weights was better at reducing fat under the skin and around the organs.
It also helped the body use insulin more effectively, which is very important for preventing and managing diabetes. Insulin is a hormone that helps control blood sugar. When the body doesn’t respond well to insulin, blood sugar stays high, which can lead to diabetes.
To make this study work, the researchers had to get creative. They invented a way for mice to “lift weights” by designing cages with a special lid. To get to their food, the mice had to lift the lid while wearing a small collar—similar to doing squats.
Over time, the lid got heavier to mimic progressive strength training. Mice in the running group had access to a wheel they could run on anytime. Other mice were used as control groups and didn’t exercise.
For eight weeks, the scientists tracked the mice’s weight, how much fat they carried, and how well they could handle blood sugar. They also looked at how their heart and muscles worked, and studied their muscle cells to see how insulin was working at a deeper level.
The results showed that both types of exercise reduced fat and improved blood sugar control. But resistance training had a stronger effect, especially in improving insulin signaling inside the muscles. This finding is important because it means weightlifting could be a powerful tool for stopping diabetes before it starts.
The study also matters because many people can’t do running or intense cardio for different reasons. This research shows that strength training may offer equal or even better protection against diabetes and obesity.
Interestingly, the researchers found that the benefits of lifting weights didn’t come just from building more muscle. This suggests that weight training affects the body’s metabolism in special ways that go beyond just muscle size.
These results support years of clinical trials showing that all types of exercise—running, lifting, or high-intensity training—help reduce blood sugar over time and lower other risk factors like body weight and blood pressure. But this study is one of the first to directly compare running and weightlifting in a well-controlled setting.
The researchers say that popular medications for diabetes, like GLP-1 drugs, are helpful but cannot replace the overall health benefits of regular physical activity. Exercise not only helps with blood sugar but also improves heart health, energy, and quality of life.
The main takeaway? If you want the best results, try to do both endurance and strength training. But if you can only do one, lifting weights might offer more benefits than you think.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about the cooking connection between potatoes and diabetes, and low calorie diets may help reverse type 2 diabetes.
For more health information, please see recent studies about protein power: a new ally in diabetes management, and pineapple and diabetes: A sweet surprise.
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