Regular exercise is beneficial for your overall health, as well as in controlling your diabetes. Exercise can help reduce your risk of developing heart disease, help maintain or lower your weight, and reduce your blood pressure. Another benefit of exercising with diabetes is controlling your blood sugar levels.
Exercise Recommendations
Experts from the American College of Sports Medicine -- ACSM -- and the American Diabetes Association have teamed up to create exercise recommendations for individuals with diabetes. Their recommendations call for at least 150 minutes per week of moderately to vigorously intense aerobic exercise. This exercise should occur at least three days per week. Individuals with diabetes should avoid exercising on back-to-back days. Moderately intense exercise causes you to break a sweat and boost your pulse. While participating in moderately intense exercise, you should be able to carry on a conversation. Moderately intense physical exercise might include brisk walking, using an elliptical machine or playing tennis. Vigorously intense exercise also causes an increase in pulse and a sweat to break, but with vigorously intense exercise, it is difficult to carry on a conversation as you exercise. Vigorously intense exercise can include running or engaging in sports.
Exercise and Blood Sugar
When you exercise, your muscle cells use more sugar. This increase in sugar usage can help improve your blood sugar levels. Your body uses more sugar for energy when you participate in exercise than when you are at rest. Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, can occur during exercise if you are not used to exercising regularly, or if you do not check your blood sugar levels on a regular basis.
Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes
If you have type 1 diabetes, the kind in which the body doesn't produce any insulin, you should implement an exercise regimen with a well-balanced diet and insulin to best control your diabetes. Your doctor might need to change your insulin levels, or you might be required to modify your diet on days you exercise to help prevent low blood sugar. With Type 2 diabetes -- in which the body doesn't produce enough insulin or the body's tissues don't respond to insulin -- you should exercise every other day. This might help improve your body's response to insulin, as well as regulate your blood sugar. Exercising regularly, following your diet and taking medications as directed -- if required at all -- can help you to manage your diabetes.
Considerations
According to Dr. Sheri Colberg -- a researcher on the 2010 ACSM and American Diabetes Association diabetes and exercise research study -- there is no excuse for individuals with diabetes to avoid exercise. Exercise can help manage your diabetes, as well as your overall health. When exercising with diabetes, you should always consult your doctor fist. Your doctor will assess your health and determine if you are healthy enough to participate in exercise. You should also visit regularly with a podiatrist to ensure your feet remain healthy -- which can often be problematic for diabetics as a result of poor circulation. When exercising, keep a few pieces of candy nearby, just in case you feel dizzy or lightheaded.
References
- Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise: Exercise and Type 2 Diabetes -- American College of Sports Medicine and the American Diabetes Association
- American Diabetes Association: Exercise Can Help Type 2 Diabetes, New Guidelines Says
- University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics: Diabetes and Exercise
