Effective Diabetes Exercise Routines

Exercising regularly can be very helpful especially if you live with type 2 diabetes. It can aid in managing your blood sugar levels and weight, lessen the risk factors of cardiovascular disease, heart attack and stroke, and improve your overall health.

Exercising can also assist in preventing diabetes to develop among those who have prediabetes. To this, people are being encouraged by the American Disease Association to start out a moderate to intense aerobic activity for 150 minutes per week.

In the absence of contraindications like mild to severe retinopathy, ADA also states that it is essential to try out at least two strength training sessions every week.

The effects of exercising aren’t just limited to weight loss. But, if you want to see lasting results, it is heavily needed to comply with an exercise program.

In case of your habit to remain inactive, it’s preferable to consult with your doctor first to ensure that there are no special precautions or restrictions that should be applied when you consider starting out an exercise program. To begin gradually and slowly building up your personal goals is always a good place to start.

There are a handful of exercise routines that you can use to kickstart your journey to fitness:

1. Walking

Getting yourself moving doesn’t require you costly exercise equipment or a premium gym membership.

In fact, you can begin whenever you want just as long as you have a pair of shoes that can support your feet all throughout. And by doing a speedy 30-minute walk five times a week, you’re already complying with the minimum requirements needed for aerobic fitness.

A 2014 study finds that for people with type 2 diabetes, walking can decrease their blood sugar levels and lose their weight.

1. Cycling

Studies highly associates diabetes to arthritis.

With practically 50 percent of diabetics who also have an arthritis, these two conditions share some serious risks, one being obesity.

Trying out a low-impact exercise is a preferable choice if you experience lower joint pain. By cycling, for instance, you don’t only minimize straining your lower joints; it can also be a step towards reaching your fitness goals.

1. Swimming

Doing some aquatic activities is also a friendly exercise choice even for those who worry about their joints.

By swimming, aqua jogging, water aerobics, among many other aquatic activities, your muscles, heart, and lungs are getting their workout without giving your joints too much stress.

Based on a 2017 review, aquatic exercises are also found to be beneficial as land-based exercises do when it comes to lowering blood sugar levels.

1. Team sports

If it’s difficult to motivate yourself to exercise, joining a recreational sports team might help you with that. Getting a chance to interact with other people as a team and being committed to them might aid in motivating you to stay present every week.

There are plenty of recreational sports to choose that can serve as an aerobic workout. These include soccer, softball, basketball, pair tennis, ultimate frisbee, among many others.

1. Aerobic Dance

It may also help you achieve your fitness goals by attending an aerobics dance or fitness class. Zumba, for example, is a fitness program that promotes fast-paced workout by incorporating dance and aerobic movements.

According to a 2015 study, women with type 2 diabetes feel more motivated after attending Zumba classes for 16 weeks. They also managed to lose weight and improve their aerobic fitness.

1. Weighlifting

Strengthening activities such as weightlifting aid in forming your muscle mass, thus, spiking your daily calorie burnout. As ADA says, doing some strength training may help improve your sugar control.

Through the use of free weights, weight machines, or even heavy household objects like water bottles or canned goods, it is possible to add weightlifting into your weekly exercise just as long as you wish.

It is recommended that you join a weightlifting class or consulting a professional fitness trainer if you consider lifting weights safely and effectively.

Either trying out aerobic exercises or weightlifting can greatly influence glycemic (blood sugar) control, studies show. In fact, the same studies added that incorporating both routines produces more efficacy than just applying one or the other by itself.

1. Resistance band exercises

Strengthening your muscles isn’t only exclusive to using weights. By doing strengthening activities with resistance band, improving your muscle strength is also possible.

Consider learning how to include them to your workouts. You can try to attend a resistance class, watch a work out video, or talk to a professional trainer.

Based on a study the Canadian Journal of Diabetes published, aside from strength increase, incorporating resistance bands to your exercise can also mildly help in improving your blood sugar control.

1. Calisthenics

Trying out calisthenic exercises requires you to use your own body weight in order to strengthen your muscles. These include squats, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, and abdominal crunches.

It is important that you try working out every major group in your body regardless of your choice to improve your muscle strength and weight, whether it be using weights, your own body weight, or using resistance bands.

As ADA suggests, taking a day off from muscle strength activities in between each training session is helpful to give your body time to recover.

1. Pilates

Pilates is a known fitness program that aims to improve your coordination, balance, and core strength. As for older women with type 2 diabetes, a recent study shows that it may help in improving blood sugar control.

There are a handful of Pilates classes at your local gym or Pilates studios for you to attend to if you wish to consider. In addition, other resources are also accessible, such as videos and books.

1. Yoga

Yoga is found to be helpful in people with type 2 diabetes in managing their weight, cholesterol, and their blood sugar, as 2016 review states.

In addition, yoga can also contribute in lowering your blood pressure, improve the quality of your sleep, and make your mood better.

Signing up for a yoga class at a local gym or studio is highly suggested if you are interested in trying yoga. To help you learn how to move from one position to another using the right posture and breathing techniques, a trained professional will be available to teach you those.

DIETING AND EXERCISING

In addition to trying out any exercise routine, it is also important to remember that the other vital factor to make diabetes management a successful technique is by going on a diet. Studies attest this, which shows that even for those who are developing diabetes, exercising and dieting can significantly lower the possibility of getting diabetes.

Read more about the risk factors for type 2 diabetes here.  

Other studies also show that a change of lifestyle can improve blood lipid profiles, insulin sensitivity, and help in lowering high blood sugar levels.

Diabetes Prevention Program, a major clinical study, showed in their study among people at risk to diabetes that an intervention in lifestyle, including a weekly 150 minute exercise, lowered their risk to diabetes by 58 percent.

Take note that exercising and dieting should be done altogether. Regardless if you can exercise regularly, for example, a diet incorporating high sugar and fats and very low fiber or phytonutrients (essential plant products) would only make your effort go to waste. Contrastingly, having an adequate diet in the absence of regular exercise would only put your cardiovascular health at risk.

Diabetes is intricately connected to cardiovascular health. Thus, a better diet and regular exercise must be applied to achieve improved blood lipid control, blood sugar levels, and mood. Additionally, exercising will also become easier, as doing so results to higher energy. By exercising daily, your blood vessels are kept healthy, losing weight gets easier, and it makes you feel better about yourself.              

WHAT TO REMEMBER

It is important that you consider regular physical activity, not only to help in managing type 2 diabetes but also in improving your overall health.

Committing to a routine exercise program will bring the impression to some people that it heavily needs time management and determination. A few may get help to gain more motivation. Joining a gym and signing up for a class or other regular, scheduled activity may be beneficial for them. This group setup of fitness gives a sense of mutual support, companionship, encouragement, and somehow, an element of competition may add up for those who try.

In case of having any other health conditions aside from type 2 diabetes, consulting with your doctor is important before you start out a new exercise routine. With their advice, you will be able to learn to lessen the risk of getting injured and keeping yourself safe as you reach your fitness goals.