As per Jacqueline Shahar, a Clinical Exercise Physiologist and Diabetes Care and Education Specialist at Joslin Diabetes Centre Boston, starting exercise during Diabetes management looks like an uphill task but a regular exercise regime definitely helps in this.
Meenu Verma, Yoga Expert, Mysore also reiterates that the first few weeks of exercise are difficult for people with type 2 diabetes, but with grit and commitment when people get into an exercise routine, they witness better results in the management of diabetes. When a diabetic starts his or her exercise regime under a trained person, it not only helps in controlling sugar levels but also is good for overall health. Meenu Verma cautions that one must take all the precautions as advised by their health consultant or Diabetic expert before taking up any form of exercise.
Exercise Guidelines For Diabetes Patients
Dr. Sanjay Jain, Indore says that type 2 diabetes patients must take proper advice from their doctors before getting into any exercise routine. He again emphasized the importance of exercise and the overall health of an individual, and how it helps in increasing the immunity of an individual.
Meenu Verma says whenever she works with a Diabetes patient she follows a step-by-step plan which she customizes as per the individual’s health case history.
Jacqueline Shahar in her report on Diabetes management, says that Diabetes patients who also suffer from muscle degeneration or are on medication for any other co-morbidity should follow the exercise chart provided by their expert. They must take complete information on which kind of diet; exercise form is suitable for them before proceeding with any exercise routine. Self-medication or self-planned exercise is not only risky but can be fatal many times.
Not only do these type 2 patients, should regularly go for eye check-ups, as Diabetes can affect the eyes. If there is some problem with the retina of a patient then they are not allowed to perform certain exercises.
As per Jacqueline when we exercise our muscles constrict, because of which the body needs more energy, which comes from the glucose in the body. So, when a person exercises more he burns more glucose. Post-exercise when a person relaxes, insulin helps, glucose to reach blood cells, although insulin can directly reach these blood cells. When a diabetes patient exercises, these interactions of glucose and insulin helps in better management of sugar levels. Apart from this when one is physically active, insulin secretion is more in the body. Thus, regular exercise at times leads to the reduction of medicine doses in many diabetic patients.
Things to keep in mind while exercising
As per the American Diabetes Association(ADA) Type 2, Diabetes Patients must follow a weekly exercise planner, that consists of a medium-level exercise routine for at least 30 minutes every day. If the patient is overweight then he or she must concentrate on healthy weight loss with the right diet and exercise regime of a minimum of 60 minutes per day.
ADA recommends that Diabetes patients should start their physical fitness regime with light or low-intensity exercise to avoid any kind of health risk. Gradually they can increase the duration and intensity of the exercise. They should start with daily 5 minutes of exercise and should slowly increase it to 10 than 15 as it is convenient to them. With this gradual increase in duration, the probability of injury is less and patients can work towards better fitness regimes. In case they come across any difficulty they should immediately contact their health consultants.
Patients should daily log their development of the physical activity, like how many steps they walked, or if they are working in Gym how many repetitions of an exercise. Patients must also maintain a monthly log so that they can discuss their achievements and failures with their Diabetes educators and fitness experts.
Also Read: Nutrition Tips for Diabetes Management.
