What kind of exercise fights type II diabetes best? ….
Today's post: Tuesday, 10-9-2007
Is aerobic or cardio best to control blood sugar levels or is strength training best?
The HSI e-newsletter for Monday, 10-8 had a neat story that had part of the answer. And it was good news. (Their sneak attack title was “Donut Therapy.”)
Researchers at the University of Calgary in Canada studied 251 type II diabetics who were between 39 to 70. The researchers split them up & then studied four groups:
The Aerobic Group worked out for 45 minutes 3 days a week on exercise bikes &/or treadmills.
The Strength Training or “Resistance Training” Group worked out for 45 minutes 3 days a week with weights.
The Combined Group apparently did both. (The article didn’t say whether that was some of each for 45 minutes 3 days a week or an hour & half with 45 minutes of each 3 days a week or if it was something like Mon Weds Fri for 45 minutes of strength training & Tues Thurs Sat for Aerobic for a total of 6 days a week. I suspect it was the last one where they exercised 45 minutes for 6 days a week.)
The Control group did no exercise at all.
The researchers did a before and after test of the HBA1C levels which is the most accurate way to check average blood sugar levels on each of the four groups.
After six months, the Aerobic Group had improved their blood sugar readings; the Resistance Training Group improved quite a bit more; & the unfortunate Control Group did NOT change or improve.
The Combined Group got by far the best results. In fact, some people in that group did well enough to get back into the normal range.
It would have been nice had the article given more specifics.
But the clear conclusion is there. The best kind of exercise to control & bring down high blood sugar readings, if you only do one, is strength training.
And, doing some of each -- plus exercising five to seven days a week for at least some time each of those days is apparently the best.
Even twenty minutes of aerobic exercise on alternate days for 3 days a week plus doing twenty minutes a day of strength training on the two days in between will help.
Plus that kind of regular exercise reliably makes you less fat; improves or prevents depression; & improves your sex life for both men & women. It even grows new brain cells for you & increases the level of the protective HDL that helps you avoid heart attack, stroke, & other problems.
Truly, if people really knew what regular exercise did FOR them & NOT doing regular exercise did TO them, almost everyone would exercise.
What about you?
If you aren’t exercising now, even a 10 minute walk three days a week or working out with weights for 20 minutes two days a week on days with at least a day off in between is a start you can build on.
And, if you are doing regular exercise now, this is yet another reason to be glad of it & to keep doing it !!
Today's post: Tuesday, 10-9-2007
Is aerobic or cardio best to control blood sugar levels or is strength training best?
The HSI e-newsletter for Monday, 10-8 had a neat story that had part of the answer. And it was good news. (Their sneak attack title was “Donut Therapy.”)
Researchers at the University of Calgary in Canada studied 251 type II diabetics who were between 39 to 70. The researchers split them up & then studied four groups:
The Aerobic Group worked out for 45 minutes 3 days a week on exercise bikes &/or treadmills.
The Strength Training or “Resistance Training” Group worked out for 45 minutes 3 days a week with weights.
The Combined Group apparently did both. (The article didn’t say whether that was some of each for 45 minutes 3 days a week or an hour & half with 45 minutes of each 3 days a week or if it was something like Mon Weds Fri for 45 minutes of strength training & Tues Thurs Sat for Aerobic for a total of 6 days a week. I suspect it was the last one where they exercised 45 minutes for 6 days a week.)
The Control group did no exercise at all.
The researchers did a before and after test of the HBA1C levels which is the most accurate way to check average blood sugar levels on each of the four groups.
After six months, the Aerobic Group had improved their blood sugar readings; the Resistance Training Group improved quite a bit more; & the unfortunate Control Group did NOT change or improve.
The Combined Group got by far the best results. In fact, some people in that group did well enough to get back into the normal range.
It would have been nice had the article given more specifics.
But the clear conclusion is there. The best kind of exercise to control & bring down high blood sugar readings, if you only do one, is strength training.
And, doing some of each -- plus exercising five to seven days a week for at least some time each of those days is apparently the best.
Even twenty minutes of aerobic exercise on alternate days for 3 days a week plus doing twenty minutes a day of strength training on the two days in between will help.
Plus that kind of regular exercise reliably makes you less fat; improves or prevents depression; & improves your sex life for both men & women. It even grows new brain cells for you & increases the level of the protective HDL that helps you avoid heart attack, stroke, & other problems.
Truly, if people really knew what regular exercise did FOR them & NOT doing regular exercise did TO them, almost everyone would exercise.
What about you?
If you aren’t exercising now, even a 10 minute walk three days a week or working out with weights for 20 minutes two days a week on days with at least a day off in between is a start you can build on.
And, if you are doing regular exercise now, this is yet another reason to be glad of it & to keep doing it !!
Labels: exercise, exercise benefits, HBA1C, high blood sugar, insulin resistance, type II diabetes
posted by David at 12:37 PM
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