Effect of Resistive and Aerobic Exercise on Reducing Insulin Sensitivity during Pregnancy

Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a combined resistive and aerobic training program would improve insulin sensitivity compared with aerobic training alone in pregnant women.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Out Patient Clinic at El Mataria Teaching Hospital, between January and July 2014.

Methodology: This study was carried out upon forty primipara pregnant women, who had insulin resistance, their age ranged from 25 to 35 years and their gestational age ranged from 20 to 24 weeks. They were divided into two groups equal in number, group (A) who performed resistance exercise and aerobic exercise (RE and AE) and group (B) who performed who aerobic exercise only(AE only).

Assessment of all subjects in both groups (A&B) was carried out at the beginning of the study and at 37 weeks of gestation using HOMA test.

Results: There was a highly statistically significance decrease in insulin resistance in both groups where the p value was (0.0001) favoring group (A).

Conclusion: Adding resistance exercise to aerobic exercise had a greater effect on improving insulin sensitivity than aerobic exercise only.