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Exercise
Why exercise is important
For everyone exercise can bring increased fitness, improved flexibility and mobility and a general feeling of well-being. It can also help with weight loss. But for people with diabetes, exercise has some special benefits, in particular:
- Improved sensitivity to insulin
Muscle is more sensitive to insulin than fat so as you build lean muscle and decrease fat, your insulin dose may go down - Help with blood glucose control
Exercise can help you to burn up glucose in your blood. If however your levels are high before you plan to exercise, be careful. You may not have enough insulin on board to move the glucose into your muscles. Do not start to exercise until your levels return to normal - Reduction in heart disease risk
Heart disease is a known risk with diabetes. Exercise can lower your cholesterol levels and decrease your blood pressure, both of which help protect your heart
What exercise is suitable?
Recommendations vary, but at the moment the NHS Health Development Agency in the UK suggests:
Brisk walking for 30 minutes five times a week, or any activity that makes you slightly out of breath. You do not have to do the 30 minutes continuously; five- or ten-minute bursts can be just as beneficial.
Take care!
Before starting a new exercise regime, ask your diabetes team to check if it is suitable for you. Remember:
- Exercise needs to be regular - little and often is far better than infrequent and strenuous
- Set yourself achievable goals - start slowly and build up gradually
- Don't exercise if you're ill or injured
- Always have carbohydrate snacks easily accessible when you exercise
When you exercise
- Test before and after activity
This will help you spot if hypoglycaemia is a risk. If your exercise will last for a long time, then you should test yourself part-way through. For example, if you are playing a football match, test before the match and at half time, or if you are going on a long walk, take your testing equipment with you - As you get fitter
Increasing fitness may mean you need to decrease your insulin dose or take more carbohydrate before you exercise. Look out for patterns in your test results which might indicate you need to make changes, for example an increasing number of hypos - Watch out for delayed hypos
After vigorous exercise you may get a delayed hypo any time in the following 36 hours. So increase your testing frequency, make sure you are always carrying some carbohydrate and have a bedtime snack just in case
