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Weightlifting Exercise Study for Older Women Living With Type 1 Diabetes

Tests whether weightlifting improves daily movement in postmenopausal women with type 1 diabetes.

Key facts

Who runs it
Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal
Where
Edmonton, Hamilton, and Montreal, CanadaSee the 3 sites
Trial code
Registry title
Functional Mobility and Resistance Exercise for Postmenopausal Females With Type 1 Diabetes
Status
Not yet recruiting
People taking part
63 people, planned
Starts
Dec 2026
Expected to end
Dec 2030
Type of study
Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets no study treatment, for comparison.
Treatments tested
  • Resistance exercise
Record updated
1 October 2026

Who can take part

AI summary

From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.

The trial is looking for postmenopausal women with type 1 diabetes who are not physically active. It tests whether weightlifting for 6 months improves everyday mobility.

Age
60 years or older, or 50 years or older with signs of frailty (level 4 on the Clinical Frailty Scale).
Sex
Women only.
Disease stage
Type 1 diabetes treated with insulin for more than 1 year. Postmenopausal: no periods for 12 months, or hysterectomy and removal of both ovaries and tubes at least 1 year ago.
Earlier treatment
Must not have done resistance training (weightlifting) in the past 6 months. Must be physically inactive: less than 30 minutes of aerobic activity less than 3 times a week and no resistance exercise.

Main reasons for not taking part

  • Cannot communicate in English or French
  • Severe low blood sugar or diabetic ketoacidosis in the last 3 months, or more than 2 episodes in the last 12 months
  • Conditions that limit exercise, such as unstable heart or lung disease, severe nerve damage in the limbs, or active proliferative retinopathy
  • Significant kidney disease (eGFR under 25 mL/min/1.73 m2 or urine albumin/creatinine ratio over 150 mg/mmol)
  • Uncontrolled high blood pressure, or an injury, foot wound or amputation that affects exercise

The registry criteria, word for word

Show all 18 criteriaShow less

Who can take part

  • 1) female
  • 2) clinical diagnosis of T1D requiring continuous insulin therapy [(either by multiple daily injections or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (insulin pumps)] for > 1 yr
  • 3) aged ≥60 yrs, or ≥50 yrs with signs or symptoms of clinical frailty (level 4 on the Clinical Frailty Scale)
  • 4) physically inactive (<30 mins of aerobic activity <3x/week; no resistance exercise)
  • 5) postmenopausal (no menstrual periods in the previous 12 months, or who have had a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with ≥1 yr having elapsed since surgery)

Who cannot take part

  • d) unstable cardiac or pulmonary disease
  • e) disabling stroke
  • g) uncontrolled hypertension (BP>150 mmHg systolic or >95 mmHg diastolic while seated)
  • f) significant renal disease (estimated GFR<25 mL/min/1.73 m2 or urine albumin/creatinine ratio >150 mg/mmol)
  • 1) unable to communicate in English/French
  • 2) unwilling/unable to sign informed consent
  • 3) having performed RT in the past 6 months
  • 4) recent (last 3 months) or multiple episodes (>2 in last 12 months) of severe hypoglycemia and/or diabetic ketoacidosis
  • 5) those with PA restrictions due to:
  • a) intermittent claudication
  • b) severe peripheral neuropathy
  • c) active proliferative retinopathy
  • h) musculoskeletal injury, foot wound or amputation that would affect the ability to exercise

Where in Canada

  • Alberta Diabetes InstituteEdmonton, CanadaContact: Normand G Boulé, PhDNo longer taking part
  • McMaster UniversityHamilton, CanadaContact: Irena Rebalka, PhDNo longer taking part
  • Institut de Recherches Cliniques de MontrealMontreal, CanadaContact: Corinne Suppere, MScNo longer taking part

About the trial

What the trial wants to find out

Improvements in diabetes care and technology have led to people with type 1 diabetes living longer. There are now more seniors than ever living with this complex health condition. With aging, type 1 diabetes affects both bone (more brittle), and muscle (loss of size and strength). This loss happens faster and to a greater extent in females than in males, and greatly increases the risk of frailty and falls. It may also occur more quickly in individuals who have higher blood glucose (sugar) levels.

Read full original descriptionShow less

Frailty is an important factor to address. In older females, even mild frailty decreases the ability to perform day-to-day tasks, and increases the risk of fractures, falls, hospitalization, and even death. Performing regular exercise helps to maintain the strength and quality of both muscles and bones with aging. The best type of exercise to help maintain the ability to perform activities of daily living (known as functional mobility) for this population is currently unknown. Resistance exercise (weightlifting) helps to prevent decreases in mobility in seniors without diabetes. However, in the context of type 1 diabetes, high blood sugar levels could negatively impact these potential strength benefits and low blood glucose could lead to falls. As such, any exercise program that causes swings in glucose levels may hinder rather than help.

The goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of weightlifting over a 6-month timeframe on functional mobility in postmenopausal females with type 1 diabetes, compared to a group that does not train. the investigators will also assess its effects on blood sugar variability and the risk of hypoglycemia. Like different medications, not all exercise is equal. Creating more knowledge about the benefits of specific types of exercise in this population will allow us to be more precise in our exercise recommendations for living longer and more independently with type 1 diabetes.

The 2 groups in the trial

  • Resistance exerciseTreatment being tested

    Supervised progressive resistance exercise training three times weekly

  • wait-list controlNo study treatment, for comparison

    Usual care. Participants will be offered the training program at the end of the 6-month control period.

Questions to ask the study team

  1. How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
  2. Are travel costs paid?
  3. Can I keep my own doctor?
  4. What happens if I want to stop?

Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations

Print a page for my doctor

Data and sources

Registry record
Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Official title
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Functional MobiLity and Resistance EXercise for Postmenopausal Females With Type 1 Diabetes: the FLEX-T1D Trial
Plain-language title
Weightlifting Exercise Study for Older Women Living With Type 1 DiabetesGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
Record updated
1 October 2026