Are you a diabetic patient? Here's why exercise is important for you

Regular physical activity can positively affect blood pressure and cardiovascular health and improve your general well-being if you are a diabetic patient. Here are some reasons why you should have a workout routine.     

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Regular workouts or physical activity is critical in managing type 2 diabetes. Until recently, very few studies showed the significance of exercise in managing diabetes. However, plenty of research highlights the importance of exercise in controlling blood glucose levels effectively. The research indicates that a regular workout helps prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes, improves blood glucose control, and boosts the body's sensitivity to insulin by improving insulin resistance.

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What activities can help in the management of diabetes? All forms of exercise, such as resistance, aerobics or doing both in a proper workout regime, has shown to lower values of HbA1c in diabetic people. Aerobic exercise and resistance training both help to reduce insulin resistance. However, combining these two types of exercise provides beneficial than doing either alone.

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Resistance training for people with diabetes:  70-80 % of the glucose in our body after a meal goes to our muscles. Having a good muscle mass is essential for better glucose intake. Hence adding resistance training to the workout routine becomes highly important. Emerging research suggests that resistance training can combat metabolic dysfunction in patients who have Type 2 Diabetes and can be an effective measure that can also improve lower metabolic risk factors with diabetes and your overall metabolic health. Resistance training is a valuable strategy to enhance overall metabolic health and can also lower metabolic risk factors in diabetic patients since it improves glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance.

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Aerobic training for diabetes: In type 2 diabetes, aerobic exercise therapies have dominated the research about the impact of exercise on our glycemic indices. Large muscular groups move continuously and rhythmically during aerobic activity, including cycling, walking and jogging. Moderate to vigorous (65 cent-90 per cent of maximum heart rate) aerobic exercise training can improve VO2max cardiac output, which is also associated with substantially reduced cardiovascular and overall risk in patients with type 2 diabetes. For people with type 2 diabetes, regular training can reduce hbA1c and insulin resistance.

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Alternatively, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can promote insulin sensitivity and glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. Aerobic exercise boosts the number of mitochondria, insulin sensitivity, oxidative enzymes, blood vessel compliance and responsiveness, immune system activity, lung function, and cardiac output.