Are you wondering about the most powerful exercises for diabetic patients? If you are diabetic, fitness is one of the healthy options to improve this condition. Regular workouts help you manage blood sugar levels, reduce cardiovascular risks, and promote overall health & well-being.
Diabetes is a metabolic condition in which blood sugar has a different time getting into muscles where it belongs. Physical activity or regular workouts make it easy for blood sugar to get into the muscles.
What’s more! Physical activity helps lower the risk of:
- Heart disease
- Manage cholesterol level
- Improve blood pressure
- Boost blood level functions
- Avoid coronary diseases
Being a sedentary diabetic patient may increase the chances of several other health diseases. It is best to consult your healthcare professional to recommend exercises for diabetic patients.
How Exercises for Diabetic Patients Help?
You might be wondering about the health benefits of exercise for diabetic patients. In a healthy person, the pancreas produces insulin, which allows your cell to obtain blood sugar and use it as energy. In a diabetic patient, cells do not respond to insulin, which results in high blood sugar levels.
Here is how exercises for diabetic patients work:
- Lowers the blood sugar level
- Help cell respond to insulin
- Contribute to healthy weight loss
- Reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases
- Maintain muscle strength
10 Great Exercises for Diabetic Patients
If your healthcare professional diagnosed you with diabetes, it is time to choose an exercise for you. Not sure where to start? Here is the list of the best exercises that can help you reach your fitness goals quickly.
What’s more, walking does not require a gym membership or the help of a mentor. You can walk anywhere, anytime without equipment, to get moving.
Only one thing required for walking is a pair of shoes. If you have a supportive pair of shoes, start walking today. Moreover, you can make your moderate walking into brisk walking for aerobic fitness. Walking can help a diabetic patient by lowering the:
- blood pressure
- HbA1c level
- body mass index
If you find it difficult to get yourself out there, pain your walking with a person who motivates you. For instance, you can walk to a local coffee shop to get a tea as a walk.
Do you want to boost your ability to gobble up glucose? A great way to drive down your blood sugar is jogging. You can change your normal walk to jogging by picking up the pace and intensity.
Experts recommend that a little bit of jogging or running is useful for diabetic patients. Journal of the American College of Cardiology concluded that 5 to 10 minutes of jogging or walking can reduce the risk of death from heart diseases by 45%. You can start your day with one minute of jogging and then increases it gradually.
Also, Read – 3 Key Physical Activities to Improve Mood For a Quality Life
One of the best exercises for diabetic patients must include swimming. All the aquatic activities are beneficial for joint health.
Some aquatic activities you can try with swimming include:
- Aerobics
- Aqua jogging
These low-impact activities not only lower the A1C levels but also improve the heart, lungs, and muscles. Despite the ground activities, aquatic activities put slight pressure on joints.
Improve your cardiorespiratory fitness & insulin sensitivity with these exercises for diabetic patients!
How can we ignore the value of gentle yoga when discussing the exercises for diabetic patients? Yoga helps reduce cortisol levels to improve your mood. Moreover, it helps mitigate the blood sugar levels in diabetic patients.
Diabetic patients can eat fruits and vegetables more mindfully for glucose management. Yoga helps them by improving their balance.
Do you lack motivation for exercise? Working with a team will help you achieve your goals by motivating you. Your social circle and your commitment to them will motivate you to achieve your desired goals each week.
Many recreational sports offer a good aerobic workout. Consider trying basketball, soccer, softball, pairs tennis, or ultimate frisbee.
One of the best exercises for diabetic patients includes cycling. It helps people with arthritis too. Sometimes diabetic neuropathy becomes a reason for joint pain in diabetic patients.
If you have lower joint pain, consider choosing low-impact exercise. Cycling, for example, can help you meet your fitness goals while minimizing strain on your joints.
Also, Read – Weight Loss And Sugar Level – 6 Foods To Lower Sugar Level
Weightlifting – a perfect strengthening exercise for diabetic patients. It helps you build your muscle mass and burn extra calories each day. Additionally, it is beneficial to improve the blood sugar level.
If you are adding weightlifting to other exercises for diabetic patients, you can use:
- Weight machines
- Free weight
- Heavy household objects
Be sure to consider the safety of weightlifting before joining any class!
When choosing exercises for diabetic patients, add aerobic dance to your list. Signing up for an aerobic dance class will help you meet your exercise goals quickly.
Zumba is one of the best combinations of dance and aerobic movements. Several diabetic patients take Zumba fitness classes for motivation. It helps them lose weight and improve aerobic fitness.
You might have heard about the popular fitness program pilates. Pilates is one of the best exercises for diabetic patients as it:
- Improve core strength
- Boosts coordination
- Improve balance
You can consider signing up for pilates fitness classes at your local gym or pilates studio. Moreover, you can watch instructional videos to perform pilates.
Do you think that strengthening exercises are the only tool to strengthen your muscles? You can perform a variety of strengthening exercises with resistance bands.
To learn how to incorporate them into your workouts, speak with a professional trainer, take a resistance band class, or watch a resistance band workout video.
Exercises for Diabetic Patients – Final Words
Hopefully, all these exercises for diabetic patients work best for you. Always talk to your doctor before adopting a new exercise. In general, ensure you are hydrated before, during, and after your exercise. Regular physical activity will help you improve your fitness. Experts recommend that incorporating several kinds of exercises helps you achieve your goals quickly.
