Exercise and Diabetes

There are 4 common types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, Pre-Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes. All of these can be managed well through healthy lifestyle changes, pharmaceutical intervention (medications) and regular exercise will all play an important role in getting your diabetes under control.

It’s important to stay active as much as possible and exercise has been a well-known way of managing healthy glucose levels. Exercise can increase insulin sensitivity for approximately 18 hours and improve glucose transport throughout the body.  The benefits of participating in regular physical activity for people with diabetes include:

• Maintenance or loss of weight
• Reduction of stress levels
• Improved mood, mental activity and sleep patterns
• Reduction of cholesterol levels
• Reduction of blood pressure
• Achievement of target blood glucose levels
• Less insulin resistant which leads to improved glucose control

For the best results it was found a combination of both resistance & aerobic exercises lead to better glucose control. If you’re not sure what exercises will suit you best to regulate your glucose levels or if you’ve been seeing certain lows or spikes during and/or after exercise, book in with our accredited exercise physiologist and we can discuss how to manage your levels and determine a suitable exercise plan for you.

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As each person’s needs and lifestyle are different. Our Exercise Physiologist will work with you every step of the way to create activity programs that suit you.