Posted on May 27, 2015 by Jenny Cromack

Type 2 diabetes and pre diabetic conditions are increasingly rapidly in the world, particularly in western countries. There is a growing body of evidence linking type 2 diabetes to individuals who are insufficiently active. It has been demonstrated that regular exercise combination with other positive lifestyle factors may help to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. This blog looks at exercise and diabetes and how exercise can prevent type 2 diabetes, or help to treat type 2 diabetes.

What Is The Role Of Exercise In The Prevention/ Treatment Of Type 2 Diabetes?

The benefits of exercise are commonly acknowledged, and include:

• Improving glycemic control
• Improve body composition
• Improve cardiorespiratory fitness
• Reduce cardiovascular risk
• Improve well-being in individuals with type 2 diabetes

Several large randomised controlled trials have examined the effect of exercise and lifestyle modifications on the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes. One of the largest was recently completed in the USA. The US diabetes preventative study carried out over a 4 year period resulted in a 58% reduction in the occurrence of Type 2 Diabetes. The lifestyle modification included 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise and a dietary program, which focused on reducing the individual’s weight by 7%.

Interestingly, in the study participants reported on average 300min/ week of moderate activity. Similarly these findings have been confirmed by the Finish Diabetes study in which a similar percentage (58%) was observed following 210min/ week of moderate/ vigorous activity. Asian-Indian studies have established that 210min/week of simply brisk walking reduced the likelihood of developing the disease by 28.5%.

Which Exercise Is Best To Prevent Type 2 Diabetes?

While it is clear that exercise is critical in assisting the prevention of Type 2 Diabetes. The actual type of exercise should be established. It seems that from the studies 210min/week of moderate intensity or 125min/week of vigorous intensity exercise should be completed.  A combination of resistance and aerobic based training should be completed.

• The optimal parameters for resistance training appear to be 2-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions for 4-8 exercises, which should be completed for 2 sessions per week.
• Resistance sessions can be combined with aerobic training, however superior results are observed when training is spread out over the week, where an individual never goes more than two days without completing either, aerobic or resistance training.

In summary, it is easy to get caught up on how we look from the outside and a number on the scales. Whilst these are important factors which motivate many people to exercise and eat healthy, actually being healthy and free of disease is something we often overlook.

Exercise in even a moderate intensity can dramatically reduce the likelihood of developing this metabolic disease. So if you can’t do anything else but fit in 10min walks here and there, this are significantly better than doing nothing at all and may help to keep diabetes at bay.