Glycemic reductions following water- and land-based exercise in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Purpose: To assess the acute glucose responses to the first sessions of three mesocycles of water- and land-based aerobic exercise.

Methods: The water-based exercise group (WBE, n = 14; 54.1 ± 9.1 years) performed deep water walking and/or running, while the land-based exercise group (LBE, n = 11; 60.1 ± 7.3 years) performed walking and/or running on athletic track. In the first mesocycle, patients trained at 85-90% of their anaerobic threshold (AT) for 35 min, progressing to 90-95% of the AT in the second mesocycle, and 95-100% of the AT in the last mesocycle. Capillary glucose was assessed before and immediately after the first session of each mesocycle.

Results: There was glycemic reduction (p < 0.001) in all sessions, with relative reductions of 19%, 29% and 24% for the WBE and 24%, 29% and 27% for the LBE in the mesocycles 1, 2 and 3, respectively. There were no found differences between groups and between mesocycles.

Conclusions: The acute response of blood glucose to aerobic training between 85 and 100% of the heart rate of AT is effective and independent of the environment in which it is performed. Clinical trial reg. no. NCT01956357, clinicaltrials.gov.