Exercise has proven benefits — stronger muscles and bones, better mood, improved quality of life, more energy, and a longer life — and its benefits are particularly relevant to people living with type 2 diabetes.

Lower Blood Sugar

Any aerobic activity — even a simple walk around the block — can help lower blood sugar. You can check this out for yourself by monitoring your blood sugar level before and after aerobic activity. Most of the time, it will be lower afterward.
Combining aerobic activities with resistance training appears to be even more effective at lowering blood sugar.
Resistance training is any exercise that requires the muscles to move against a source of resistance, such as using free weights or resistance bands.

Better Heart Health

The number one cause of poor health and death among people with type 2 diabetes is cardiovascular disease. Regular exercise reduces cardiovascular risk factors and may also reduce the need to take drugs to lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol.

Weight Loss

Many people start exercising because they'd like to lose weight.
Exercise alone does not always bring about a lot of weight loss. However, when combined with dietary changes and sustained over time, exercise can be a very important part of your efforts to lose weight and keep it off.

As proof, 94 percent of members of the National Weight Control Registry, a national study of people who lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off, say they increased their physical activity as part of their plan to accomplish lasting weight loss.

Exercise Recommendations

The American Diabetes Association and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend the following for adults with type 2 diabetes:
  • At least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, spread over at least three days of the week with no more than two consecutive days without exercise
  • In the absence of contraindications, resistance training at least twice per week on nonconsecutive days
  • Increased daily movement, such as walking more
If you're not there yet, use these recommendations as your ultimate goals. Start slowly, and build up gradually. Increase the amount of time you exercise by no more than 10 percent a week.

Safety First

People with diabetes are advised to get their doctor's OK before starting a formal exercise program or intensifying their level of physical activity.
If you have uncontrolled high blood pressure, severe neuropathy (nerve damage), or proliferative retinopathy (diabetes-related eye disease), you may need to limit the types of exercise you perform or seek treatment before embarking on an exercise regimen.
If you take a diabetes medication that can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), talk to your doctor about how to prevent hypoglycemia during exercise. It's also important to learn how to recognize the symptoms and treat low blood sugar.
Medications that commonly cause hypoglycemia include insulin and the class of oral drugs known as sulfonylureas. This class includes glipizide, glyburide, and glimepiride.

There is some form of exercise that is safe and beneficial for just about everyone, so if you haven't found the right exercise for you, keep looking!