One-year unsupervised individualized exercise training intervention enhances cardiorespiratory fitness but not muscle deoxygenation or glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes.

Adaptations to long-term exercise training in type 1 diabetes are sparsely studied. We examined the effects of a 1-year individualized training intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness, exercise-induced active muscle deoxygenation, and glycemic control in adults with and without type 1 diabetes. Eight men with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and 8 healthy men (CON) matched for age, anthropometry, and peak pulmonary O-2 uptake, completed a 1-year individualized training intervention in an unsupervised real-world setting. Before and after the intervention, the subjects performed a maximal incremental cycling test, during which alveolar gas exchange (volume turbine and mass spectrometry) and relative concentration changes in active leg muscle deoxygenated (Delta[HHb]) and total (Delta[tHb]) hemoglobin (near-infrared spectroscopy) were monitored. Peak O-2 pulse, reflecting peak stroke volume, was calculated (peak pulmonary O-2 uptake/peak heart rate). Glycemic control (glycosylated hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c))) was evaluated. Both T1D and CON averagely performed 1 resistance-training and 3-4 endurance-training sessions per week (similar to 1 h/session at similar to moderate intensity). Training increased peak pulmonary O-2 uptake in T1D (p = 0.004) and CON (p = 0.045) (group x time p = 0.677). Peak O-2 pulse also rose in T1D (p = 0.032) and CON (p = 0.018) (group x time p = 0.880). Training increased leg Delta[HHb] at peak exercise in CON (p = 0.039) but not in T1D (group x time p = 0.052), while no changes in leg Delta[tHb] at any work rate were observed in either group (p > 0.05). HbA(1c) retained unchanged in T1D (from 58 +/- 10 to 59 +/- 11 mmol/mol, p = 0.609). In conclusion, 1-year adherence to exercise training enhanced cardiorespiratory fitness similarly in T1D and CON but had no effect on active muscle deoxygenation or glycemic control in T1D.