During a meal test, the difference in muscle glucose uptake between exercised and rested legs is approximately twice as large as the difference observed during euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp studies, indicating that euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp methods underestimate the full metabolic benefit of exercise under physiological conditions.

When muscle is exercised, it becomes more efficient at taking in sugar after a meal because the exercise activates pathways that make insulin work better and helps the muscle quickly store sugar as glycogen. This prevents sugar from building up inside the muscle, which would otherwise block further sugar uptake. In muscles that haven't been exercised, sugar enters but can't be stored fast enough, so it piles up and stops more sugar from coming in.