Exercise and Diabetes
Why is exercise important for someone with diabetes?
Unlike medication, exercise is low cost and side-effect free. Those with diabetes who don’t exercise are three times more likely to have poor diabetes control and more likely to suffer related complications.
Exercising regularly, apart from getting the benefits listed above, improves sensitivity to a range of metabolic hormones and the body becomes better at transporting glucose. This happens because exercise stimulates the body’s muscles.
Exercise also reduces the level of fat in the body, particularly round about the tummy area. It is thought that it is this mobilisation of the body’s fat stores, by exercising, that might improve blood glucose control.
Less glucose in the blood, because it’s now stored in the body’s muscle, means the blood flows better and some of the blood vessel complications associated with diabetes may be avoided.
How long do these effects from exercise last for?
The good news is that if someone regularly exercises, these benefits can be permanent, and for someone with diabetes it can mean reducing their medication. If younger members of families with a predisposition to diabetes exercise regularly, they could avoid diabetes altogether.
A single bout of exercise can benefit the body’s sensitivity to insulin for 16-18 hours, exerting effects on blood glucose control for 24-48 hours but these effects have worn off by 60-72 hours. Even a little bit of exercise is better than none at all, and a little and often approach to exercise can be of benefit.
How much should I exercise?
To get health benefits, the Government recommends adults should be aiming to exercise at a moderate intensity for 30 minutes, five days (but preferably most days) of the week.
However, the same health benefits can be gained by breaking this down into 10-minute bouts of moderate activity. The overall aim should be to accumulate 150 minutes (2½ hrs) of moderate activity per week.
Little and often, with a general message of “Move More, Sit Less”, is recognised as an important means by which people can start to become more physically active.
Top tips to get started
- Check with medical personnel that your diabetes is presently stable enough to allow you to begin an exercise routine.
- Start with small bouts of exercise of low intensity and build up gradually. Start with 5-10 minutes of activity per day for the first week, then add on 5 minutes per day until the target goal of 150 minutes (2½ hrs) of moderate activity is reached.
- Find an exercise partner – this could be a family member, children or grandchildren, or a work colleague – and make it fun.
- Choose something you enjoy, as you are more likely to stick with it.
- Find out if any of the following schemes are locally available: Health-led Walks or Exercise on Referral / Social Prescribing schemes.
Top Tips To Exercise Safely
- Build up slowly; this includes if opting to perform chair-based exercises.
- Don’t ever try to lift maximum weights on your own and never breath-hold when doing any weight or resistance-based exercises.
- Don’t try to do too much; stick to moderate-intensity exercise.
- If new to exercise, it may be best for you to monitor your blood glucose before, during and after exercise until a routine is established. If doing any prolonged exercise or activity, check blood glucose during the activity and adjust medication and/or food as necessary.
- If your diabetes is controlled by diet alone, then you don’t need to adjust your food intake when exercising, unless undertaking, for example, a marathon.
- Don’t exercise when you are feeling ill, you are vomiting or have an infection.
- Ensure that your footwear won’t cause blisters and practise good foot care.
- If you’ve been diagnosed with retinopathy, you may need some additional advice about the safest types of exercise for you.
- If you’ve been diagnosed with autonomic neuropathy, you may need to have your pulse and blood pressure monitored during exercise. Weight-bearing exercises may have to be avoided if you have peripheral neuropathy. Check first with your healthcare professional.
To have all the benefits of exercise you must do it regularly and stick with it, so make sure you find something which is enjoyable and fun; it is not supposed to be a chore.
Taking up exercise or becoming more active won’t just benefit your diabetes – it can also impact on any other disease and age-related problems you may have or could be at risk of.
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