Diabetes Forecast - February 2012

WE’LL
MOVE
YOU!
STRENGTH

Why is strength training important for diabetes health?

When you add even just 5 pounds of muscle all over your body, it increases your insulin sensitivity in such an awesome way that you simply need less insulin and your body is helping you burn o; glucose. The di;erence between strength training and cardio and aerobic activity (which still is awesome for insulin sensitivity and awesome for burning calories) is that when you do strength training and you increase the muscle mass on your body, you’re increasing your insulin sensitivity in a really permanent way.

training. Cardio, unlike strength training, absolutely does drop your blood sugar.

VIEIRA’S BEST LIFTS

Can people with type; 2 diabetes experience a low hours after strength training like those with type; 1 can?

If a person with type; 2 is taking oral medications or insulin, they are just as likely to drop low during that three- to four-hour time period after exercising. One thing you can do is be sure to include some carbohydrate in your post-workout meal.

BENCH PRESS 190 lbs.

Will strength training drop blood glucose levels? The main thing about strength training—and this is for type; 1 or type; 2—is that it really shouldn’t drop your blood sugar very much because it’s anaerobic and glucagon [a hormone that raises blood glucose levels] is being released during the process. Start your blood sugar at a healthy range, around 120, and check it afterward. If [you have type; 1 diabetes and are] high after doing that, that tells you your body needed a little more insulin before doing the workout. Where you’ll notice you might have lows [if you take insulin or type; 2 medications called sulfonylureas] is three to four hours after your workout.

Why is form important in strength training? There are so many ways to do it wrong, and there are so many ways to waste your time, so even if you can’t a;ord a long-term personal trainer I highly, highly recommend buying at least three sessions with a personal trainer and asking them to teach you some basic exercises so that you have the form correct, you’re using the right amount of weight, and you’re putting together a program, a routine of exercises, that makes sense. [Another option is to] buy a fitness book or DVD. I really think education is extremely important.

started working out with my trainer in 2007, I remember thinking after a few months, “Well, I don’t see a huge di;erence in my body right now, but I really like doing this, I really like being here.” And so I stuck with it.

If I had just given up after the first three months because I hadn’t lost all of the weight I wanted to lose, then I would have never reached power lifting. Today, I am absolutely an athlete, but it took a lot of persistence and curiosity to find my passions for exercise and my health.

SQUAT

255 lbs.

DEAD LIFT

308 lbs.

How should people with type; 2 handle post-workout highs? A really great way to bring that high blood sugar down after strength training, if you aren’t taking supplemental insulin, is to hop on a cardio machine for 10 to 15 minutes right after you finish strength

What would you tell people about investing in their fitness? If you asked me five years ago if I would go on to set 15 records in power lifting, become a yoga instructor, health coach, and personal trainer, I would have laughed and laughed! I never thought of myself as very athletic before. When I first

How can people make exercise a priority in their lives? First of all, set a clear goal. Think about why exercising is really something you want for your life, write it down, and focus on that as your primary motivation. Then pick one or two days where you simply do something that gets your heart rate up: walking, going to a fitness class, getting on an elliptical. You don’t need to go full throttle and [exercise] five days a week for 60 minutes in order to make progress. One or two days for 30 minutes is a great place to begin.