Lower your Type 2 diabetes risk

As reported in CNN, strength has been tied to a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, but you don’t need to overdo the weightlifting to reap the benefits, according to a new study published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Moderate amounts of muscle strength, but not beyond that, were associated with a 32% reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in the study.

“While it’s not entirely clear why higher strength did not protect against diabetes, it’s possible that higher aerobic fitness, higher amounts of physical activity and lower body mass indexes that were present in this higher-strength group were also affecting the relationship between strength and diabetes,” said Angelique Brellenthin, a postdoctoral research associate in Iowa State University’s College of Human Sciences, who was an author of the study.

Overall, “the encouraging takeaway from this study is that you don’t need to be super strong to help reduce your risk of diabetes,” Brellenthin said.

Read the artice here or the research here for more detail.