High intensity endurance training improves metabolic syndrome in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a defined cluster of cardiometabolic abnormalities that increases an individual’s risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of 12 weeks high intensity exercise training on MS in men with T2DM. Material and Methods: Sixteen sedentary overweight and obese middle-aged men (aged: 41.18±6.1 years; ±SD) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were randomly assigned to training group (n=8) or control group (n=8). The training group performed endurance training 4 days a week for 12 weeks at an intensity corresponding to 75- 80% individual heart rate reserve (HRR) for 45 min. Results: The results showed that waist circumference (WC) as well as triglycerides (TG), blood pressure (BP) and glucose were decreased in the training group compared to the control group (P<0.05). After 12 weeks, the training group resulted in a significant increase (P<0.05) in the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in compared with the control group (P<0.05). Conclusions: In conclusion, high intensity endurance training improves metabolic syndrome in men with T2DM.