Did you know that even extremely overweight people are 70 percent less at risk of getting diabetes when they lose 5 percent of their weight? Surprising, isn’t it? That’s the impact of regular physical activity and exercise on your body. Regardless of your age and gender, you will experience the mental and physical benefits of performing regular exercise. With diabetes, the only difference is that you’ll have to monitor your sugar levels before and after exercising. Before starting any kind of activity, it is important to discuss your workout plan with the doctor. This extra step should not become an excuse to avoid exercising. In this blog, we’re going to tell you why it is important to exercise when you’re suffering from diabetes and how you can start with your workout plan.
Inactivity may worsen diabetes
When you feel fatigued and tired all the time, the natural reaction is to stop being physically active. A lot of diabetes patients think and feel that other than taking medicines and insulin injections, they cannot do anything about their condition. While it’s understandable that it is difficult to perform certain functions with a chronic condition like diabetes, it is possible to engage in some kind of physical activity daily – be it a 20-minute walk in the park, gardening or performing yoga asanas. Being physically inactive can become the biggest mistake one can make because that’s how diabetes symptoms can worsen up and may give rise to complications. It also increases the chances of getting other health problems like heart diseases, obesity, joint problems, hypertension and depression.
Benefits of Exercise for diabetic patient
Keeping these downsides aside, let us now focus on the benefits that you may get with regular physical activity when suffering from diabetes. Regular exercise can:
- make your body more sensitive to insulin
- help control your blood sugar levels
- keep your weight in check
- make you feel healthier & energetic
- reduce your stress levels
- lowers your risk of heart disease and nerve damage
- prevent complications of diabetes
Here’s how you can start exercising when suffering from diabetes
Talk to your doctor: Before starting your workout routine, speak with your doctor. The doctor can advise you on a suitable exercise routine as per your sugar levels. After a personalised consultation, they recommend certain yoga asanas, pranayama, exercise routine and a diet chart suitable for your body type and condition.
Start slow & be consistent: Please don’t jump into an intense workout routine or 30-minute cardio session on the first day of your workout. Start slow and be consistent with your exercise routine. You can start with a 5-10 min. walk and stretch it to 30 minutes in a month’s time. Instead of taking the elevator, you can take the stairs, or walk to places close by, or take your dog for a walk.
Listen to your body: It is important to check your sugar levels before and after the exercise session. Don’t exercise if your sugar levels are lower than 100mg/dL or higher than 250-300 mg/dL. Eat a snack if you feel dizziness, shortness of breath, disorientation, or pain. To prevent injury and muscle soreness, which can make you lose motivation, it is important to warm up, cool down, and stretch before and after the workout session.
Find a workout buddy: This advice may sound difficult for some of you, especially for those who don’t like exercising but believe us it isn’t that hard. Once you get into the routine, it will automatically become a part of your lifestyle. To start with, find a workout partner or take the help of your friend or family member.
Do something that you enjoy: You don’t necessarily have to go to a gym to lose weight or be physically active. You can dance with your children in the house, play with them in the park, go for swimming, do gardening or cycling, or practice relaxing and highly beneficial pranayama/breathing techniques.
If you have any doubt or confusion related to your ongoing diabetes treatment, diet and lifestyle or any other query, you can get in touch with our expert Ayurvedic doctors. They will be happy to help you in regaining control over your sugar levels. You can also start taking Ayurvedic treatment along with your regular diabetes medication. Ayurvedic treatment for diabetes that our doctors suggest goes to the root cause of your problem and manages your diabetes with the help of special herbs and rasayanas.
