Table 3. Exercise dose recommendation (based on HbA1c).
| Dose of CT (MET-min/week) | Intensity | Dose intensity and codes* | Recommended training time† (min/week) | Recommended training time (reps×min/week)‡ | ||
| Minimal§ | 370 | Moderate | 3.3 (17160, 02054) | ~110 | 3×~35 | 4×~28 |
| 3.5 (01010, 02054) | ~105 | 3×~35 | 2×~53 | |||
| 3.8 (12027, 02054) | ~100 | 3×~33 | 2×~50 | |||
| High intensity | 6.5 (01014, 02050) | ~60 | 2×~30 | 1×~60 | ||
| 6.9 (12029, 02050) | ~55 | 1×~55 | 2×~30 | |||
| Optimal¶ | 1030 | Moderate | 3.3 (17160, 02054) | ~310 | 5×~60 | 6×~50 |
| 3.5 (01010, 02054) | ~295 | 5×~59 | 6×~49 | |||
| 3.8 (12027, 02054) | ~270 | 4×~68 | 5×~54 | |||
| High intensity | 6.5 (01014, 02050) | ~160 | 4×~40 | 5×~32 | ||
| 6.9 (12029, 02050) | ~150 | 4×~38 | 5×~30 | |||
17160: Walking for pleasure.
02054: Resistance (weight) training, multiple exercises, 8–15 reps at varied resistance.
01010: Bicycling, <10 mph, leisure, to work or for pleasure.
12027: Jogging on a mini-tramp.
01014: Bicycling, general.
12029: Running 4.3 to 4.8 mph.
02050: Resistance (weight lifting - free weight, nautilus or universal-type), power lifting or body building, vigorous effort.
Dose intensity is the average of the dose intensities of the codes in parentheses, the codes are from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities22 and the intensity magnitude is referenced to Gallardo-Gómez et al.11
Exercise time does not include warm-up and relaxation.
The number of training sessions per week and the length of each exercise session, generally equally divided between aerobic and strength training time.
Minimum dose to improve HbA1c.
Improvement in HbA1c optimal dose.
CTconcurrent trainingHbA1cglycosylated hemoglobinMETsmetabolic equivalent of tasks