Importance of Exercise When You Have Diabetes

Exercise is critical for a healthy body. It is especially important for people living with diabetes. Along with controlling your diet, a daily dose of activity can help control your diabetes and keep sugar levels stable.

Where to start

• Many people shiver at the word "exercise." For them, it means torture or worse--the gym. These thoughts keep people from doing much of anything. Start out slow, talk a walk, garden, walk up steps, ride a bike, and clean the house. Any physical activity is a beginning to managing your diabetes.

Aerobic Exercise

• Aerobic exercise is the most effective type of exercise for achieving weight-loss goals, because it works out the heart, as well as the lungs, arms, and legs. Along with burning fat and calories, aerobic exercise helps improve insulin sensitivity.

Anaerobic Exercise

• Anaerobic exercise is more commonly know as strength training. This includes weigh lifting, push-ups, squats, and isometrics. Scientific research shows that increasing your muscle mass can reduce insulin resistance and lower blood glucose levels.

Recommendations for activity

• The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with Type 2 diabetes get 150 minutes of moderately intense aerobic activity every week, and anaerobic training at least three times a week on non-consecutive days.

Monitoring glucose levels during exercise

• Check your blood glucose level 30 minutes before exercising. If your blood level is over 250, wait until levels have dropped between 250 and 100. Check your level during exercise, and also afterward, when your body is restoring glucose to your muscles and liver by removing it from your blood.