Aims/hypothesis The present study compares the impact of endurance- vs resistance-type exercise on subsequent 24 h blood glucose homeostasis in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes. Methods Fifteen individuals with IGT, 15 type 2 diabetic patients treated with exogenous insulin (INS), and 15 type 2 diabetic patients treated with oral glucose-lowering medication (OGLM) participated in a randomised crossover experiment. Participants were studied on three occasions for 3 days under strict dietary standardisation, but otherwise free-living conditions. Blood glucose homeostasis was assessed by ambulatory continuous glucose monitoring over the 24 h period following a 45 min session of resistance-type exercise (75% one repetition maximum), endurance-type exercise (50% maximum workload capacity) or no exercise at all. Results Average 24 h blood glucose concentrations were reduced from 7.4 ± 0.2, 9.6 ± 0.5 and 9.2 ± 0.7 mmol/l during the control experiment to 6.9 ± 0.2, 8.6 ± 0.4 and 8.1 ± 0.5 mmol/l (resistance-type exercise) and 6.8 ± 0.2, 8.6 ± 0.5 and 8.5 ± 0.5 mmol/l (endurance-type exercise) over the 24 h period following a single bout of exercise in the IGT, OGLM and INS groups, respectively (p 10 mmol/l) was reduced by 35 ± 7 and 33 ± 11% over the 24 h period following a single session of resistance- and endurance-type exercise, respectively (p