Jill Kanaley, professor at the University of Missouri and her colleagues looked at the heart rate and blood pressure of nearly 75 obese men and women with Type 2 diabetes, the journal Metabolism reports.
They all followed a programme of aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise for 16 weeks. They all worked at an effort of 65 percent, which was worked out based on each individual's ability.
Despite everyone exercising at relatively the same speed, the researchers found that men got far more benefit from the exercise than women.