One common feature of type 2 diabetics (or type 1) and those with pre-diabetes is that their bodies do not handle glucose in a healthy way. In full-blown diabetes the damage is pretty well done, but for pre-diabetes, and similar conditions like metabolic syndrome, the situation can often be retrieved with lifestyle changes -- weight loss, healthy eating and exercise to be precise.
In either case, the question often arises as to what type of exercise is best. My answer is always that a combination of aerobic exercise (cardio) and weight training is likely to be better than either alone, even allowing for comparable energy expended in either one. The science pretty much supports both forms of physical activity. Here's why.
Cardio builds heart and lung (cardiorespiratory) fitness somewhat better than lifting weights. Fitness is important in keeping diabetes and heart complications under control. Resistance exercises with weights, bands or your own body weight, in sufficient quantity and work load, builds some aerobic fitness but more importantly builds muscle and strength. When you have more muscle you also have more storage depots for glucose.
Using up blood and muscle glucose in physical activity helps lower the high levels of glucose that defines diabetes. In addition, physical activity can get blood glucose across to muscle in the absence of insulin, another plus for exercise in general and weight training in particular. To keep your blood glucose at a healthy level, you want glucose out of the bloodstream and stored in either muscle or liver or used up in exercise. That's the secret of a combination program of weights and cardio for diabetes.
