An interventional study of Blood-flow restriction resistance training and Classical resistance training in Type 2 Diabetes, sponsored by German Diabetes Center. Completed at 1 site in Germany. Open to participants aged 30 Years to 69 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-05.
Sponsored by German Diabetes Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
Among 16 studies in Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 by German Diabetes Center — 3 open to participants now, 4 under way, none of them phase 3. Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 · German Diabetes Center.
Among the 16 studies in Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 by German Diabetes Center, this one is the 11th largest by enrollment of the 13 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 2 that started in 2019, is one of 11 with no phase, and was the 14th registered.
10,371 studies on the registry are indexed under Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; 1,406 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 20 is below the median of 80 across 8,350 interventional studies indexed under Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2.
Browse Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 studies →3 of the 16 studies in Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 by German Diabetes Center are open now, in 1 country. Each count lists the studies.
Of the 883 Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 studies recruiting now, 373 (42%) set no upper age limit and 384 (43%) stop at 75 or younger; 52 take children under 18; 203 take healthy volunteers.
This study: 30 Years to 69 Years · all sexes · healthy volunteers too.
The full table on the hub →16 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.
First in 2002; this study’s year is marked. 2 started in 2019.
Median enrollment 24 across the 13 interventional studies, 450 across the 3 observational. Of the 11 that completed or were terminated, 0 (0%) have results posted.
German Diabetes Center is the lead sponsor of 30 studies on the registry; 8 are open to participants now.
None of the studies under way reaches primary completion within a year.
Among the 16 studies in Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 by German Diabetes Center, from their registry updates:
The study aims to investigate the metabolic and cardiovascular effects of classical resistance training with high loads and blood-flow restricted training (BFRT) with low loads in individuals with type 2 diabetes over 12 weeks.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by an increasing insensitivity of muscle, fat and liver cells to the hormone insulin. About 9% of the global population is affected by this condition and mortality risk is twice as high in individuals with diabetes compared to similar-aged people without diabetes.
Muscle is of particular importance for glucose homeostasis, since in healthy people it accounts for 80-90% of postprandial insulin-stimulated glucose disposal. After cellular uptake of glucose by the specialized glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), glucose is phosphorylated and stored as glycogen. In individuals with obesity or T2D, the capacity for insulin to facilitate glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis is impaired. This reduced response of a given insulin concentration to exert its biological effect is termed insulin resistance. Subsequent diminished insulin secretion due to β-cell failure results in fasting hyperglycemia and overt diabetes. Importantly, muscle insulin resistance is the initial defect occurring in the development of T2D and precedes the clinical development of the disease by up to 20 years.
Thus, the preservation of skeletal muscle function is essential for people with T2D who have an increased risk of sarcopenia. On the one hand high intensity resistance training (HIT) with 80 % one-repetition maximum (%1-RM) is a well-recognized strategy to improve muscle strength and glycemic control for individuals with T2D, on the other hand elderly or obese people may not be able to tolerate these high loads. Blood flow restriction training (BFRT) with low loads (20-30% 1-RM) has consistently demonstrated comparable effects to HIT and seems to be a promising alternative to increase muscle function.
During the BFRT the muscle becomes hypoxic due to a brief occlusion of venous blood flow using a tourniquet while exercising. Consequently metabolites like lactate, growth hormone (GH) and insulin like growth factor (IGF-1) are released and result in muscle hypertrophy through activating the collagen synthesis and the recruitment of satellite cells. Furthermore cell swelling based on venous blood pooling, reactive hyperemia and metabolite accumulation has been shown to increase protein synthesis by activating the mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway. Also, BFRT increases the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which may lead to higher glucose uptake during exercise. Last but not least higher threshold motor units (fast twitch fibers) are recruited due to hypoxia and metabolite accumulation.
Although there is a significant inverse relationship between muscle strength and the risk of cardiovascular mortality, cardiovascular adaptations to resistance training are under-explored and poorly understood.
The study therefore aims to investigate the metabolic and cardiovascular effects of BFRT with low loads in individuals with T2D.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.
Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.
Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
NYHA class (heart failure)
The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.
Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ALT and AST (liver enzymes)
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hepatitis B tests
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.
Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Resistance training with low loads (15-30% RM) in combination with a brief occlusion of venous blood flow using a tourniquet while exercising.
Other: Blood-flow restriction resistance training
Resistance training with high loads (60-80% RM).
Other: Classical resistance training
Training program: After 10 minutes of warm-up the participant performs three exercises with BFRT for the lower extremities. The intensity is about 15-30% of 1-RM.
Training program: After warm-up the participant performs three exercises for lower body. The intensity is about 60-80% of 1-RM.
Change in insulin sensitivity by blood-flow restriction or classical resistance training
By using hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique, changes in the M-value (mg x kg-1 x min-1) will be measured. The m-value represent the glucose infusion rate at a defined level of hyperinsulinemia during a glucose clamp test. The hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique will thus be implicated to assess changes in insulin sensitivity before and after 12 weeks of resistance training.
Time frame: Before and after 12 weeks of training (intervention)
Changes in skeletal muscle mass by blood-flow restriction or classical resistance training
Cross-sectional area (cm2) from quadriceps will be measured by MRI imaging technique to evaluate changes in muscle diameter ("hypertrophy") before and after 12 weeks of resistance training.
Time frame: Before and after 12 weeks of training (intervention)
Changes in skeletal muscle strength by blood-flow restriction or classical resistance training
Isometric and submaximal strength tests (kg) will be performed to measure changes in muscle strength before and after 12 weeks of resistance training.
Time frame: Before and after 12 weeks of training (intervention)
Ran from Oct 2019 to primary completion in May 2024, 54 months.
Of 2,066 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, half reached primary completion within 21 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 40. This study's 54 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 2,243 studies reached it within 21 months; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 39.
Since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026, the dates moved once, on Nov 5, 2026: primary completion Dec 2023 → May 2024 and completion Mar 2024 → May 2024.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Dec 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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German Diabetes Center