What Is a Good Exercise Routine for Diabetics?

Want to improve your blood glucose control and get in shape? Exercise, along with a healthy diet, can improve or even eliminate type 2 diabetes. Exercise will help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, and has been proven to have positive effect on blood sugars. It helps your body respond to insulin, improves your circulation, reduces stress and lowers your risk for heart disease. In some cases, exercise can eliminate the need for insulin or other diabetes medications.

Starting an Exercise Routine

• Diabetics should always talk to their physicians before starting an exercise program. Your doctor may have some thoughts on the type of exercise you should engage in and the duration. This is especially true if you are overweight or out of shape, or if your diabetes is out of control.

Start Slowly

• If you are not used to exercise, don't try to do too much. Start with a 15-minute walk, a half hour of water aerobics or a few easy miles on a bicycle. Slowly build up as you get stronger. Always stretch for 5 minutes before and after your workout.

Good Exercises for Diabetics

• Walking, swimming, water aerobics and cycling are good choices for diabetics. If you are overweight, wait to start walking until you lose weight, especially if you have trouble with your knees. Make it your goal to work out 30 to 45 minutes at least three times a week. Try to work up to 5 days a week. Always exercise at the same time of day since this will help you control your blood sugars.

  Your exercise routine should include aerobic exercise and flexibility exercises. You can also easily add exercise into your day by becoming more active. Work in your yard, clean your house, take stairs or find ways to get extra walking in. Don't do these in place of your formal exercise, though. You will benefit from the sustained push of 30 to 45 minutes of exercise. But extra movement will help with weight loss and mood control, both important for type 2 diabetics.

Insulin, Food and Exercise

• If you are getting ready to work out, and it's been over an hour since you last ate, eat a snack with protein and some carbohydrates. If your blood sugar is less than 100 to 120, eat a snack before you exercise. Keep a snack in your workout bag or a pocket in case of low blood sugar.

  If you take insulin, exercise after eating when you are least likely to experience low blood sugar. Test your blood sugar before and after exercise and if you start to feel sick while exercising. If your blood sugar is more than 240, don't exercise.

  Monitor your blood sugar an hour or so after exercise to make sure it doesn't drop too low.

Safety While Exercising

• Wear a medic alert bracelet and carry identification. A simple way to carry identification is to punch a hole in the corner of your expired driver's license and thread a shoelace through the hole before tying your shoes.

  Always have your glucose meter with you along with a snack and your cell phone. If you experience symptoms of illness, extreme high blood sugar, extreme low blood sugar or other negative symptoms, call for help and treat the symptoms if you can.

  Find a workout buddy who understands your diabetes to walk or cycle with you, or let your water aerobics instructor or someone at your gym know that you are diabetic and give them an emergency number to call if they have concerns about your behavior. Exercising alone is not a good idea if you are at risk of extreme high or low blood sugars. If you have developed the habit of monitoring your blood sugar, you will know what your safe range is.