Introduction and Objective: Pregnant individuals experience progressive shifts in substrate metabolism and insulin resistance to support fetal growth. Although prenatal exercise is recommended to improve maternal metabolic health, the effect of different exercise modes on maternal glycemia and insulin resistance remains unclear. Therefore, the objective was to determine whether exercise mode influences maternal fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides (TG), and insulin resistance across pregnancy.Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected from two supervised prenatal exercise randomized control trials, including four exercise modes [aerobic (AE, n=62), resistance (RE, n=57), combination (CE, n=56), and attention-control (CTRL, n=54)]. FBG and TG were measured at 16 and 36 wks gestation and used to calculate the triglyceride glucose index (TyG), as a surrogate marker of insulin resistance. Between-group differences in baseline characteristics were assessed using ANOVA. Multivariable linear regression models examined the association of exercise mode with 36wk FBG, TG, and TyG, adjusting for corresponding 16wk values, maternal covariates, and exercise attendance. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.Results: Groups were similar in maternal age, gravida, parity, race, ethnicity, prepregnancy BMI, and exercise attendance. Regression analysis showed that exercise mode, specifically RE, is a significant predictor for maternal FBG (p<0.0001, R2=0.20, F=6.82) and TyG (p<0.0001, R2=0.33, F=11.75) measured at 36 weeks. RE lowered FBG and TyG but did not impact TG.Conclusion: Prenatal exercise mode differentially influences maternal metabolic adaptations across pregnancy, with significant effects on FBG and insulin resistance observed in late pregnancy. These findings suggest the metabolic benefits of prenatal exercise are mode-specific and highlight the potential role of strength training prescriptions to optimize maternal health.
E.M. Biagioni: None. A. Claiborne: None. S. Mouro: None. N.T. Broskey: None. A.M. Valent: Research Support; Current; Dexcom, Inc. Advisory Panel; Current; MannKind Corporation. Research Support; Current; MannKind Corporation. L.E. May: None.
American Heart Association (18IPA34150006), National Institutes of Health (5R01DK129480-04)
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