Written by Nikita Hillier
If you’re someone that deals with diabetes on a day to day basis, exercising regularly can come with an insane amount of benefits that are guaranteed to make you feel, look, and live better. If you have diabetes, exercise should definitely be on your daily to-do list because it is the one thing that will benefit you greatly throughout your journey with diabetes. Staying active isn’t always about getting a beach body – we should do it for our health and well being.
According to Rasa Kazlauskaite, MD, “The long-term benefits of exercise on blood sugar and insulin health are unquestionable”. If that isn’t enough to get you out and about, this article will be!
Pilates
Throughout the years, Pilates has been slowly but surely making its way up the chart of fitness and is now even recommended by doctors for people with diabetes. Pilates focuses on core strength, coordination, and balance, and recent studies have proved that it may also aid in blood sugar control. It helps improve posture, flexibility and muscle balance.
The best bit is, Pilates can be done at home, in a studio, or in a one on one setting to further enhance the benefits. If you’re interested, it may be a good idea to try it at home first to get the feel of it and then when you’re ready, take the leap. There are plenty of informative guides on the internet to get you started. This is your sign that today is the day to start.
Resistance Band Exercises
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t always need to lift weights to tone and strengthen your muscles. Resistance bands are a great tool to gain muscle strength without the detrimental effects of weight on your joints. There are many exercises and movements that allow the implementation of a resistance band. It is always a good idea to speak to a professional trainer to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your resistance band training.
Not only does resistance band training keep you strong, it may also provide great benefits to your blood sugar and insulin levels according to a recent study.
Walking
Walking has to be one of the easiest ways to manage your diabetes. In fact, we know it is! Walking doesn’t require a gym membership or a huge understanding, or any exercise equipment. You just need to throw on some joggers, put some good music on, and get those legs going! As long as you have some good shoes, and a safe place to go walking, you can start right now.
Walking exercise effectively lowers blood glucose levels and blood pressure and improves dyslipidemia. Moreover, exercise can improve insulin resistance and prevent cardiovascular events via weight loss. Furthermore, we demonstrated the possibility of walking exercise as protective factor for pulmonary impairment in subjects with diabetes. We found that walking had a significant effect on preventing pulmonary function decline, particularly FVC, which was associated with the walking duration per week.
Kim, J. M., Kim, M. K., Joung, K. H., Lee, J. H., Kim, H. J., & Ku, B. J. (2019). Association between glycemic state and pulmonary function and effect of walking as a protective factor in subjects with diabetes mellitus. Annals of translational medicine, 7(20), 530. Article available at https://doi.org/10.21037/atm.2019.09.139
By only going for a brisk 30-minute walk 5 days a week, you can reach your minimum target of aerobic fitness, so that is always an encouraging goal. In 2014, a review was completed that stated that walking can not only aid in weight loss but can also lower blood sugar levels for people with diabetes. I don’t know about you, but I think those are some pretty great health benefits.
Swimming
Another fantastic exercise that can lower your blood sugar levels is swimming.
Swimming is good for people living with diabetes because unlike other workouts, moving in water doesn’t put pressure on the joints. It can also aid in increasing insulin sensitivity and maintaining a healthy weight.
Yoga
Yoga is probably the best activity out there when it comes to reducing stress. Any type of workout can aid in reducing stress levels, but the breathing exercises in yoga can help you relax in just a couple of minutes. Yoga is an absolutely amazing tool that you can use to lower your blood sugar levels and reach physical and mental strength. This is another cost – effective activity since you only need your body and a yoga mat – yes, it can be done at home!
It’s good for people of all ages and you have to try it at least once in your lifetime, whether you have health issues or not. So don’t hesitate to get into a couple of comfortable poses and practice deep breathing. You certainly won’t regret it!
If you are reading to feel, look, and live better, it is an awesome idea to get onto a professional trainer today and get a good fitness plan going. Another option to consider is medication. Medication along with a complete fitness plan is a wonderful way to stay on top of your health and fitness.
Start today with your trainer and a Trulicity coupon!