Type II diabetes (T2DM) is a progressive disease that is considered a health pandemic in industrialized nations. Untreated, this disease is associated with several untoward conditions (e.g., cardiovascular, neural, renal, etc.) that worsen with both age and physical inactivity. Pragmatic, cost effective, countermeasures to treat T2DM and slow its progression are urgently needed. Exercise is one such intervention that has been proven to be a successful in treating persons with T2DM; however, commonly prescribed exercise programs (e.g. aerobic activity) fail to incorporate the whole body, or are viewed as too time-consuming (e.g.150-minutes per week) resulting in lower adherence. A variety of high-intensity fitness programs approaches successfully mobilize previously sedentary individuals in a time-efficient fashion; however still fail to incorporate greater quantities of skeletal muscle. Our preliminary data utilizing an at home high intensity bodyweight circuit training (HIBC) program indicate that 1) an accumulated 40-minutes per week of over a 16-week period can be safely undertaken by those with T2DM, and 2) the program benefits fasting glucose, HbA1c, cholesterol, glucose tolerance and lean mass. The HIBC is a home-based intervention that consists of completing as many rounds of the circuit of modified squats (10 repetitions), modified rows (5 repetitions), crunches (10), and modified push- ups (5) over the allotted time (e.g., 5-10minutes). Our long-term goal is to provide a more time- efficient, and effective exercise intervention for persons with T2DM and expand upon the current exercise guidelines and recommendations. In order to achieve these objectives, we will pursue the following two specific aims: Aim 1) Identify the influence of a novel HIBC training program on metabolic biomarkers, body composition, and overall fitness. Aim 2) To compare and contrast the outcome measures of the HIBC intervention to that of a traditional exercise intervention (TEI). The proposed research study will approach these aims by recruiting 82 recently diagnosed middle aged adults with T2DM and divide them into two treatment groups: HIBC (n=41) and TEI (n=41), obtain baseline metabolic, body composition, and fitness measures, then undergo 16-weeks of at home training, then obtain post measures. Upon completion of the proposed research, our expected outcomes are to have determined the feasibility and effectiveness of the HIBC intervention on the metabolic profile, body composition, and fitness markers. Additionally, we also expect HIBC to result in similar, if not greater improvements than those of TEI. Results of this study may provide an effective and appealing exercise intervention for cardiometabolic disease management in adults with T2DM, and have significant clinical and public health applications.
