In the treatment of diabetes, one size does not fit all and the use of exercise is one area where doctor's approval means more than guidelines. The amount of plaque build up affects the amount of exercise you can do safely. Since exercise treats the underlining cause of most type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and reduces the odds of CVD as well as all other complications. Exercise is the most important thing you can do to control your diabetes, improve your quality of life, and increase you life expectancy to normal. However, the more plaque build up you have the more risk you have of a heart attack caused by a piece of plaque breaking loose. Because of the huge odds of CVD in diabetics, the longer you have diabetes or more specifically the longer your insulin resistance is NOT treated, the more likely you are to have plaque build up. The more strenuous exercise recommended for pre-diabetics over diabetics is the best example of just how this works.
Guidelines and odds are both general approximations for the average person but if one is not average they will need to be adjusted. Exercise can reduce your odds of all complications to those of a non-diabetic. Light exercise is not usually enough to fully counteract the effects of diabetes, but ANY exercise is better than none.
I once took a Dr. OZ real age quiz and the results were recommendations to exercise less, eat more bread, and get a pet (I am violently allergic to animal hair/dander). I would be dead or very ill, if I followed such such recommendations based on general guidelines. Because of my exercise I have mostly avoided CVD, no kidney disease, no eye disease, very little nerve damage, and am living a great, independent life at age 70.
As one ages, they most adjust exercise based on what they can physically do, joints limit things like running or stair climbing, and reduce the amount one can lift. So far age has not affected the number of reps I do and has only limited the weigh I can lift by maybe 5%.
The key to exercise is slow increases, which prevents injury and reduces the odds of such things as heart attacks.
As a person with pre-diabetes you have risk of some plaque build up. Intense exercise can break loose a piece of plaque and cause a heart attack. Would your doctor approve you to shovel snow? If not then the program you are suggesting has similar risks to it.
If you are cleared by your doctor to do exercise, then slow build up not only reduces the risk of heart attack but injury as well.
Resistance training is very easy progress slowly and to build muscle mass and as you increase muscle mass your A1c will drop and your glucose levels will become more stable; that has been my experience.
Aerobic training at cardio-level is usually recommended at 30 minutes per day for five days a week: 150 minutes.
Remember that any exercise is better than no exercise, so thirty minutes a week is better than nothing; however, please be careful with this intense stuff or a real rapid start for the reasons stated above.
Prevention of diabetes is well presented in a book "Beating Diabetes" which describes what was learned from the Diabetes Prevention Program, a three year clinical study.
Look for ways to add to your active with productive or and things you enjoy. Walking up stairs rather than taking the elevator, mowing the lawn, making love, planting a garden, playing almost any sport, etc. Anything that gets your heart pumping counts as exercise.
Chuck
According to ADA (American Diabetes Association) guidelines, regular (i.e. everyday) slight exercises like walking are beneficial to diabetics. Meanwhile, ADA recommends aerobic exercises 2 times a week. So, heavy exercise can be beneficial when done in moderation. Age, other diseases or conditions should also take into consideration.
Most times intense exercise can cause a temporary spike, the benefits are exercise are great but if your trying to keep the bs stable that might not do it.
Actually fitness or muscle mass tend to keep your average glucose at a lower level and your numbers more stable. That has been my experience over the last 15 years. I have had rises in glucose levels after exercise and as I have become more fit and increased my resistance training the rise became less and so has my A1c. I think the underlining cause of a rise in glucose levels after exercise is insulin resistance, muscles can't get the glucose they need during exercise and send signals to the liver to release more glucose causing the rise. I have seen that a low level of activity over a long period without eating have always dropped my glucose levels. Since my main goal of exercise is to prevent CVD and all other diabetic complications, I am quite happy to accept a rise in glucose levels after exercise to get the huge benefit that hard exercise provides. Exercise along with TZDs and weight loss have enabled me to reach my goal of complication prevention.
Many diabetic see a drop in glucose levels during and after exercise but NOT all.
I have heard that intense exercise can be worse for diabetes rather than beneficial. An everyday walking routine is the best.
cdoty3,
Since each of us is different, what is a good level of exercise for one diabetic is different from another diabetic. The level of plaque build up has a lot to do with the risk of exercise. Exercise should be built up slowly to prevent heart attack or injury.
The problem is 65% of type-2 diabetics die from CVD, since some type-2 diabetics treat their diabetes with cardio level exercise and have a low risk of death from CVD, those that don't have at least a 70% chance of death because of CVD, and having serious events like heart attack, stroke, amputation etc. is higher yet. There is NO safe approach, but the best chance of a long, high quality life rests with exercise at the highest level you can safely do and your doctor is the one to advise you what is safe.
There is NO general answer to how hard should I exercise.
Most times intense exercise can cause a temporary spike, the benefits are exercise are great but if your trying to keep the bs stable that might not do it.
As a person with pre-diabetes you have risk of some plaque build up. Intense exercise can break loose a piece of plaque and cause a heart attack. Would your doctor approve you to shovel snow? If not then the program you are suggesting has similar risks to it.
If you are cleared by your doctor to do exercise, then slow build up not only reduces the risk of heart attack but injury as well.
Resistance training is very easy progress slowly and to build muscle mass and as you increase muscle mass your A1c will drop and your glucose levels will become more stable; that has been my experience.
Aerobic training at cardio-level is usually recommended at 30 minutes per day for five days a week: 150 minutes.
Remember that any exercise is better than no exercise, so thirty minutes a week is better than nothing; however, please be careful with this intense stuff or a real rapid start for the reasons stated above.
Prevention of diabetes is well presented in a book "Beating Diabetes" which describes what was learned from the Diabetes Prevention Program, a three year clinical study.
Look for ways to add to your active with productive or and things you enjoy. Walking up stairs rather than taking the elevator, mowing the lawn, making love, planting a garden, playing almost any sport, etc. Anything that gets your heart pumping counts as exercise.
I'm reading more and more about the blood sugar and insulin sensitivity benefits of intense exercise. I'm not talking about a leisurely stroll around the park. I'm referring to exhaustive exercise sessions involving aerobic intervals and/or intense resistance training with weights or bodyweight exercises. What I'm reading is that it may only take 15 minutes twice a week, then you're done. It is not fun. But getting it done in a short time is appealling.
Did it, or does it, work for you?
-Steve
PS: Fitness gurus promoting this exercise style include Chris Highcock, Skyler Tanner, Dr. Doug McGuff, and Jonathan Bailor.
PPS: An example of aerobic intervals: one minute at easy jog or fast walk on treadmill, followed by one minute run about as fast as you safely can, then one minute of rest, then one minute of full-out run, etc. Do about six cycles of this then stop. Some call this Tabata training, although Tabata's late 1990s study used stationary bikes.
