However, a new study has shown that regular weight training can help men stave off the threat of type-2 diabetes by as much as 34 per cent.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Southern Denmark have found 30 minutes of weight training five times per week can cut the risk of the disease by more than a third.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, examined the lifestyles and exercise regimes of 32,002 men between 1990 and 2008.
Factors taken into account during the research included television viewing, alcohol and coffee consumption, smoking, ethnicity and various forms of physical activity.
It was also discovered that men who combined a weight training regime with aerobic exercise, such as running, saw their type-2 diabetes risk decline by up to 59 per cent, illustrating the importance of undergoing a mix of both activities.
Visiting researcher at the Department of Nutrition at HSPH and doctoral student in exercises epidemiology at the University of Southern Denmark, Anders Grontved, explained how this was good news for men who do not like cardiovascular exercise.
He said: "Until now, previous studies have reported that aerobic exercise is of major importance for type-2 diabetes prevention.
"But many people have difficulty engaging or adhering to aerobic exercises. These new results suggest that weight training, to a large extent, can serve as an alternative to aerobic exercise for type-2 diabetes prevention."
About 90 per cent of all UK diabetes sufferers have the type-2 form of the disease, which tends to be more prevalent among people over the age of 40 and those who are overweight or obese.
The study findings showed 150 minutes of aerobic exercise alone per week cuts type-2 diabetes risk by 52 per cent, while a weekly hour of cardio will reduce the threat by seven per cent.
