Exercise For People With Diabetes
With the right lifestyle adjustments Type 2 diabetes is manageable, and you can lead a perfectly normal life. While maintaining a healthy diet is critical to controlling diabetes, regular physical activity plays a significant role too. Research has shown that exercising a few times a week significantly improves your blood sugar levels and reduces your risk of common heart complications like heart attacks and blocked arteries. In some people, regular exercise has even been shown to lower the amount of medicine you need.
Benefits Of Staying Active With Type 2 Diabetes
- Improved cardiorespiratory fitness – meaning a stronger heart and lungs
- Decreased insulin resistance
- Improved blood pressure
- Maintenance of weight loss
- Improved well-being
- Reduced stress and anxiety
- Improved mobility in overweight people
So what type of exercises should you do and how often should you exercise to improve your diabetes? The Society for Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa (SEMDSA) recommends that people with Type 2 diabetes should exercise for at least 150 minutes per week, and hard enough that you can still carry on a conversation, but not so hard that you can’t sing.
Cycling, brisk walking, swimming, dancing, water aerobics and gardening are all suitable activities to try out. If you can, SMEDSA also recommends that you do weight-bearing exercises three times a week. Examples of weight-bearing exercises are lifting weights, using resistance bands, Pilates, and yoga. If you’re short on time, you can incorporate cardio and resistance training in one exercise session, like at a group fitness class. This has the added benefit of meeting new people with similar interests and goals as you.
Moving in a way that you enjoy makes you feel good in the moment, but it also makes you feel good in the long run because of the benefits to your body. Set achievable goals for yourself like lowering your blood sugar level by a point or finishing your walk a minute faster –and revel in the joy of achieving them. Exercise puts you in control of your disease and will set you on the path of genuinely flourishing in spite of your diagnosis.
Source:
Society for Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa (SEMDSA)
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