If you find it hard to get motivated and follow your same old exercise routine, perhaps it’s time to mix things up. Turns out, not only is getting a variety of exercise a great way to add new inspiration, it’s also the best way to help your diabetes.
In one of the first ever studies into the best types of exercise for diabetes management, researchers have concluded that a combination of exercise offers the best results for helping to control blood sugar levels.
The study, presented in the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed 262 sedentary people with Type 2 diabetes for nine months. The participants were split into four groups:
Resistance training only– This group exercised three times a week and primarily performed training exercises on weight machines, typically with two sets for upper body, three for legs, and two for abdomen and back.
Aerobics only– This group walked on a treadmill at a moderate pace for about 150 minutes each week.
Combo group– This group received a mix of both types of exercise. Twice a week, they followed a shorter modified weight-training regimen, but did only one set of each exercise instead of several sets like the resistance group did. Three times a week, this group walked at a moderate pace on a treadmill, but walked for slightly shorter periods of time than the aerobics-only group to ensure their total exercise time was approximately the same.
Control group– This group made no changes to their normal lifestyle.
Researchers studied the patients’ HbA1c blood glucose levels, which provide an overview of your blood sugar levels for the past few months. While all forms of exercise showed positive results, the combination group had a significantly better result. By the end of the study, the combination group lowered their blood sugar by .34 percent compared to the control group. The aerobics-only group lowered their HbA1c levels by .24 percent and the resistance-training group dropped .16 percent.
Researchers suggest that the most efficient and helpful approach to a workout routine – no matter how much time you can devote to it – is to take part in both types of exercise.
Cross training offers additional benefits
In addition to the benefits of better blood sugar control, all groups who participated in some form of exercise reduced their waist size, an important benefit since abdominal obesity is a risk factor of diabetes. In addition, the group that received two types of exercise also experienced a number of other positive effects:
- Lost more fat mass than the other groups
- Reduced amount of diabetes medication on average, while control group increased
- Only group to lose weight
Adjusting your workout
Because your large weight-bearing muscles are the biggest consumers of blood glucose, anything you can do to keep them in shape is likely to help you control diabetes.
If you tend to gravitate to one type of exercise, be sure to take one or two days a week to mix in the other form for optimum muscular health. If you’re a die-hard walker, for example, consider adding ankle weights and wrist weights one or two days a week. If you tend toward leg lifts and sit ups, consider getting a treadmill or stationary bike. Or better yet, take a 30-minute walk around your neighborhood once or twice a week. A number of resistance and strength training exercises don’t involve weights, but instead make use of the body’s own weight, for example push ups, leg lifts and crunches. In addition, other low impact resistance-training equipment, such as exercise bands and exercise balls are also growing in popularity.
Ultimately all forms of exercise can help you improve your blood glucose levels and reduce waist size. The important thing is to make fitness a priority and stay active everyday.
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