[Glycemic control through physical exercise in type 2 diabetes systematic review]

In Spain, nearly 14% of the population is diabetic, 95% corresponds to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients. Poor glycemic control increases morbidity and mortality. There are three pillars in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: diet, medication and exercise. However, the potential for prescribing exercise training has not been fully exploited.

To analyze the effect of different exercise modalities (AE, RT, Combo, HIIT) on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The reserch was performed in 3 electronic databases (Pubmed, Scopus and Proquest), including publications from 2011 to the present, publications undertaking interventions with AE, RT, Combo or HIIT, and those that measured capillary glucose, CGMS or HbA1c.

Of the 386 articles found, 14 met the inclusion criteria. These items were classified according to exercise intervention modality (AE, RT, Combo, HIIT) and whether glycemic control was measured as a result of continued training or 24-48h post-workout.

EA, RT, Combo and HIIT show efficacy in glycemic control in both the continuous training and 24-48h post-training. To achieve certain benefits in glycemic control, prescribing a structured frequency, volume and intensity training is required. Combo is the modality that gets better results through continued training.