A new clinical trial suggests that strength training during pregnancy could reduce the risk of gestational diabetes in women who are overweight or obese, while also improving overall quality of life. Researchers in Spain, led by Dr. Santa Cruz, followed 209 pregnant women with a body mass index of 25 or higher to study whether a structured strength-training program could help prevent gestational diabetes mellitus, a condition that affects blood sugar during pregnancy and can increase the risk of complications for both mother and baby.
Participants were randomly assigned to either a strength-training program or standard prenatal care. Women in the exercise group began training between 12 and 14 weeks gestation and continued until around 36 weeks. The training program combined one supervised session with additional at-home workouts each week.
While the results, published in the journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, do not definitively prove that strength training prevents gestational diabetes, the results point to a potentially beneficial effect. Robert Thompson, a board-certified physician executive, told Newsweek that the study "offers promise" when it comes to the metabolic benefits of resistance training while pregnant. Among women in the exercise group, 2 percent developed gestational diabetes, compared with over 7 percent in the control group.
The findings were even more striking among women who closely followed the exercise program (with adherence defined as completing at least two exercise sessions per week). Indeed, none of the women in this sub-category developed gestational diabetes. Thompson, medical contributor of Care Point Boston, believes that while these findings are undoubtedly positive, the sample size means they can only be interpreted on a preliminary basis.
He said: "As pregnancy progresses, there will typically be rising levels of insulin resistance from natural increases in placenta produced hormones. Skeletal muscle is a major site for glucose disposal in the body, thus strength training could enhance insulin sensitivity by repeatedly challenging these muscles." The study's lead authors noted that the trend toward lower rates of gestational diabetes and related complications suggests strength training may have a preventive effect, but larger studies will be needed to confirm the results. Researchers also found a lower incidence of hydramnios, an excessive accumulation of amniotic fluid that can increase the risk of pregnancy complications.
No cases were recorded among women in the exercise group, compared with four cases in the control group. Yet, the most significant improvements were seen in participants' day-to-day wellbeing. Women who took part in the strength-training program reported substantially higher quality-of-life scores by the end of pregnancy.
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