Long-Term Resistance Training and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Main finding · Incident T2DResult — go to the resultHazard ratio 0.73 95% CI 0.66–0.81Authors' conclusion
In this prospective cohort study, resistance training among US adult health care professionals was associated with substantially lower T2D risk, particularly when performed consistently over midlife and combined with adequate aerobic activity and limited sedentary television viewing. These findings support the inclusion of resistance training as a key component of lifestyle recommendations for diabetes prevention.
Study context
- Population
- Adult US health care professionals (Nurses' Health Study, Nurses' Health Study II, Health Professionals Follow-up Study); mean (SD) age 56.0 (10.5) years; 78.3% women10,038 incident T2D cases
- Participants
- 143,715 professionals
- Exposure
- Long-term resistance training vs no or consistently low resistance training
- Outcome
- Incident T2D
- Follow-up
- Mean (SD) 19.2 (5.0) years
Methodological details3 US cohorts (NHS, NHS II, HPFS), Cox proportional hazards models with time-varying resistance training, trajectory analysis, Data analyzed April 30 to September 30, 2025; follow-up completed June 30, 2021
- 3 US cohorts (NHS, NHS II, HPFS)
- Cox proportional hazards models with time-varying resistance training
- Trajectory analysis
- Data analyzed April 30 to September 30, 2025; follow-up completed June 30, 2021
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Hazard ratio
0.73
95% CI 0.66–0.81
≥2 h/wkvs No resistance training
HR 0.73 (95% CI 0.66–0.81)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Incident T2D by resistance training trajectory across midlife (ages 40–60 y, NHS II)Consistently high (≥0.5 h/wk across midlife)vs Consistently low42% lower risk | 0.58 (0.45–0.74) | |
| Incident T2D by resistance training trajectory across midlife (ages 40–60 y, NHS II)Low to highvs Consistently low21% lower risk | 0.79 (0.66–0.94) | |
| Incident T2D by joint adherence to recommendations (aerobic ≥15 MET h/wk, resistance ≥1 h/wk, TV <2 h/d)All 3 recommendations metvs None metLowest risk | 0.38 (0.34–0.42) | |
| 0.20.5125Hazard ratio (log scale) |
- Incident T2D by resistance training trajectory across midlife (ages 40–60 y, NHS II): High to low and fluctuating trajectories: results not reported in abstract
Original publication
Long-Term Resistance Training and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes. JAMA Netw Open. Published 1 June 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →