Physical activity is important for everyone with diabetes. Managing glucose levels with any form of exercise is possible once you understand your personal patterns doing regular blood glucose checks and keeping a workout log can help and making adjustments that make sense to you and your lifestyle.

Breadcrumb Home You Can Manage and Thrive with Diabetes Fitness Why Does Exercise Sometimes Raise Blood Glucose? Adrenaline Can Raise Blood Glucose Levels Using your muscles helps burn glucose and improves the way insulin works.

Strategies to Keep Blood Glucose From Rising During Workouts Now that you know what causes a blood glucose rise after or during exercise, you may expect and accept it during your next workout session because you know the benefits of exercise outweigh the rise in glucose.

Practice relaxation techniques such as paced breathing, visualization, or meditation before and during your workout to minimize the adrenaline effect. Consider moving your workout to later in the day if you usually exercise in the early mornings. The dawn phenomenon, a natural rise in blood glucose that occurs between about and a.

Can watching sports be bad for your health? Beyond the usual suspects for healthy resolutions. August 2, For people who have diabetes—or almost any other disease, for that matter—the benefits of exercise can't be overstated.

Following are some highlights of those results: Exercise lowered HbA1c values by 0. All forms of exercise—aerobic, resistance, or doing both combined training —were equally good at lowering HbA1c values in people with diabetes. Resistance training and aerobic exercise both helped to lower insulin resistance in previously sedentary older adults with abdominal obesity at risk for diabetes.

Combining the two types of exercise proved more beneficial than doing either one alone. People with diabetes who walked at least two hours a week were less likely to die of heart disease than their sedentary counter- parts, and those who exercised three to four hours a week cut their risk even more.

These benefits persisted even after researchers adjusted for confounding factors, including BMI, smoking, and other heart disease risk factors. Share This Page Share this page to Facebook Share this page to Twitter Share this page via Email.

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Following are some highlights of those results: Exercise lowered HbA1c values by 0. All forms of exercise—aerobic, resistance, or doing both combined training —were equally good at lowering HbA1c values in people with diabetes. Resistance training and aerobic exercise both helped to lower insulin resistance in previously sedentary older adults with abdominal obesity at risk for diabetes.

Combining the two types of exercise proved more beneficial than doing either one alone. People with diabetes who walked at least two hours a week were less likely to die of heart disease than their sedentary counter- parts, and those who exercised three to four hours a week cut their risk even more.

These benefits persisted even after researchers adjusted for confounding factors, including BMI, smoking, and other heart disease risk factors. Share This Page Share this page to Facebook Share this page to Twitter Share this page via Email.

Print This Page Click to Print. Related Content. Heart Health. Free Healthbeat Signup Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox! Newsletter Signup Sign Up. Close Thanks for visiting. The Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness , is yours absolutely FREE when you sign up to receive Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Sign up to get tips for living a healthy lifestyle, with ways to fight inflammation and improve cognitive health , plus the latest advances in preventative medicine, diet and exercise , pain relief, blood pressure and cholesterol management, and more.

I want to get healthier. Close Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss Close Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School.

Plus, get a FREE copy of the Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness. Exercise has benefits for everyone, including people with diabetes , especially when combined with healthy eating. The exact type and amount of exercise is dependent on your age and other circumstances, such as pregnancy. These guidelines are applicable to people with diabetes as well, but speak with your doctor before commencing any new activity.

If you are at risk of type 2 diabetes , exercise can be part of a healthy lifestyle that can help to reduce this risk. While exercise has many benefits it is also important to know about some guidelines for diabetes and exercise.

This makes exercise safer and more enjoyable. People with type 1 diabetes and people with type 2 diabetes using insulin or some glucose-lowering medications called sulphonylureas are at risk of hypoglycaemia , and their risk increases during and after exercise.

Speak with your doctor if you are unsure of the type of medication you are taking. People who have had diabetes for a long time or those who have consistently high BGLs are at higher risk of developing foot problems. If you have nerve damage to your feet called peripheral neuropathy this makes you more prone to injury and to problems such as foot ulcers.

The health of your feet should be checked regularly by a podiatrist to make sure you are safe to do the exercise you are planning. Exercise causes your muscles to use more glucose, so it can lower your BGLs.

It is important for people with diabetes to keep track of their BGLs before, during and after exercise. Hypoglycaemia or a low BGL 4. Exercise causes your muscles to use more glucose. This lowers your BGLs.

For people taking insulin or diabetes tablets which make you produce more insulin there is a risk of your BGLs going too low. Check your BGLs before during and after exercise to see how the particular exercise you are doing affects your BGLs.

The type, length of time duration , your fitness level and intensity of exercise can all have an effect. Always take easy to carry hypoglycaemia treatments with you if you are at risk of hypos, such as jelly beans or glucose gel and wear a medic alert bracelet.

Exercising when your blood glucose is higher than normal can lower your levels. However, if you are unwell and your BGLs are very high it is best to avoid exercising until your BGLs have returned to the normal range.

People with diabetes who have BGLs above the normal range are more at risk of dehydration so increase your fluids to stay hydrated when you exercise. People with type 1 diabetes are at risk of developing a build-up of ketones ketoacidosis if they are unwell or have forgotten to take their insulin.

If you have type 1 diabetes and you are unwell, avoid exercise until you feel better. Extra insulin is needed to clear ketones. Ask your diabetes health professional for an individual management plan. People with type 2 diabetes are generally not at risk of developing dangerous levels of ketones unless taking a SGLT-2 inhibitor and therefore do not need to check for them.

Exercise duration. C Individuals with diabetes or prediabetes are encouraged to increase their total daily incidental nonexercise physical activity to gain additional health benefits. C To gain more health benefits from physical activity programs, participation in supervised training is recommended over nonsupervised programs.

Table 3 Exercise training recommendations: types of exercise, intensity, duration, frequency, and progression. Flexibility and Balance.

Type of exercise Prolonged, rhythmic activities using large muscle groups e. C Pregnant women with or at risk for gestational diabetes mellitus should be advised to engage in 20—30 min of moderate-intensity exercise on most or all days of the week. C Exercise-induced hyperglycemia is more common in type 1 diabetes but may be modulated with insulin administration or a lower-intensity aerobic cooldown.

C Some medications besides insulin may increase the risks of exercise-related hypoglycemia and doses may need to be adjusted based on exercise training.

C Exercise training should progress appropriately to minimize risk of injury. Table 4 Exercise considerations for diabetes, hypertension, and cholesterol medications and recommended safety and dose adjustments.

Exercise considerations. B Physical activity done with peripheral neuropathy necessitates proper foot care to prevent, detect, and prevent problems early to avoid ulceration and amputation.

B The presence of autonomic neuropathy may complicate being active; certain precautions are warranted to prevent problems during activity. C Vigorous aerobic or resistance exercise; jumping, jarring, head-down activities; and breath holding should be avoided in anyone with severe nonproliferative and unstable proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

E Exercise does not accelerate progression of kidney disease and can be undertaken safely, even during dialysis sessions. C Regular stretching and appropriate progression of activities should be done to manage joint changes and diabetes-related orthopedic limitations. Table 5 Physical activity consideration, precautions, and recommended activities for exercising with health-related complications.

Health complication. All activities okay. Consider exercising in a supervised cardiac rehabilitation program, at least initially.

Exertional angina Onset of chest pain on exertion, but exercise-induced ischemia may be silent in some with diabetes. Hypertension Both aerobic and resistance training may lower resting blood pressure and should be encouraged.

Some blood pressure medications can cause exercise-related hypotension. Ensure adequate hydration during exercise. Avoid Valsalva maneuver during resistance training. Myocardial infarction Stop exercise immediately should symptoms of myocardial infarction such as chest pain, radiating pain, shortness of breath, and others occur during physical activity and seek medical attention.

Restart exercise after myocardial infarction in a supervised cardiac rehabilitation program. Start at a low intensity and progress as able to more moderate activities. Both aerobic and resistance exercise are okay. Stroke Diabetes increases the risk of ischemic stroke.

Restart exercise after stroke in a supervised cardiac rehabilitation program. Congestive heart failure Most common cause is coronary artery disease and frequently follows a myocardial infarction. Avoid activities that cause an excessive rise in heart rate. Focus more on doing low- or moderate-intensity activities.

Peripheral artery disease Lower-extremity resistance training improves functional performance All other activities okay. Consider inclusion of more non—weight-bearing activities, particularly if gait altered.

Local foot deformity Manage with appropriate footwear and choice of activities to reduce plantar pressure and ulcer risk Focus more on non—weight-bearing activities to reduce undue plantar pressures. Examine feet daily to detect and treat blisters, sores, or ulcers early. Weight-bearing activity should be avoided with unhealed ulcers.

Amputation sites should be properly cared for daily. Avoid jogging. Autonomic neuropathy May cause postural hypotension, chronotropic incompetence, delayed gastric emptying, altered thermoregulation, and dehydration during exercise 6.

Exercise-related hypoglycemia may be harder to treat in those with gastroparesis. With autonomic neuropathy, avoid exercise in hot environments and hydrate well. All activities okay with mild, but annual eye exam should be performed to monitor progression.

Severe nonproliferative and unstable proliferative retinopathy Individuals with unstable diabetic retinopathy are at risk for vitreous hemorrhage and retinal detachment. No exercise should be undertaken during a vitreous hemorrhage. Cataracts Cataracts do not impact the ability to exercise, only the safety of doing so due to loss of visual acuity.

Avoid activities that are more dangerous due to limited vision, such as outdoor cycling. Consider supervision for certain activities.

Overt nephropathy Both aerobic and resistance training improve physical function and quality of life in individuals with kidney disease. Individuals should be encouraged to be active.

End-stage renal disease Doing supervised, moderate aerobic physical activity undertaken during dialysis sessions may be beneficial and increase compliance Electrolytes should be monitored when activity done during dialysis sessions.

Strengthen muscles around affected joints with resistance training. Avoid activities that increase plantar pressures with Charcot foot changes. Arthritis Common in lower-extremity joints, particularly in older adults who are overweight or obese. Participation in regular physical activity is possible and should be encouraged.

Moderate activity may improve joint symptoms and alleviate pain. C For adults with type 2 diabetes, Internet-delivered interventions for physical activity promotion may be used to improve outcomes. Effect of lifestyle intervention in patients with type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis.

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