Time course for exercise-induced alterations in insulin action and glucose tolerance in middle-aged people

The purposes of this study were 1) to investigate glucose tolerance and insulin action immediately after exercise and 2) to determine how long the improved glucose homeostatic mechanisms observed 12-16 h after exercise persist. Nine (seven men, two women) moderately trained middle-aged (51 +/- 3 yr) subjects performed 45 min of exercise at 73 +/- 2% of peak O2 uptake for 5 days, followed by 7 days of inactivity. Oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT; 75 g) were performed immediately postexercise (IPE; approximately 30 min) after the final exercise bout and 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after exercise. The incremental area under the plasma glucose curve was markedly higher IPE (355 +/- 82 mM.min) compared with those on days 1 (136 +/- 57 mM.min; P < 0.05) and 3 (173 +/- 62 mM.min; P < 0.05). The glucose area was significantly higher on days 5 (213 +/- 80 mM.min) and 7 (225 +/- 84 mM.min) compared with those on days 1 and 3 (P < 0.05). The incremental insulin area IPE (3,729 +/- 1,104 microU.ml-1.min) was 43% higher compared with that on day 1 (2,603 +/- 635 microU.ml-1.min; P < 0.05) and 66% higher compared with that on day 3 (2,240 +/- 517 microU.ml-1.min; P < 0.05). The insulin area increased to 3,616 +/- 617 microU.ml-1.min after 5 days of inactivity (P < 0.05). An additional 48 h of inactivity did not result in any further increase in the plasma insulin response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)