Benefits of Strength Training for Diabetes

Strength training provides many benefits, including strengthening your bones and making them more resilient, preventing falls and injuries as you age, and making it easier to maintain a healthy weight without constantly restricting your diet.

For a long time, the advice for staying active with diabetes focused on aerobic exercise such as walking, running or swimming. While these types of exercise are incredibly effective for improved blood sugar control, you will likely see even more benefit when pairing them with some type of strength or resistance training. Strength training is often the secret weapon that many people with diabetes are missing.

The Role of our Muscles

You can think of your muscles as sponges that soak up sugar. Most of the sugar that enters your bloodstream after a meal or snack is used as fuel for your muscles. When you engage in strength training, you are making those sponges bigger and more absorbent.

When you lift weights or perform bodyweight exercises like squats, your muscles use sugar from your blood as fuel. By building more muscle, you give your body more places to store sugar safely, which naturally helps lower your overall blood sugar levels.

The "Afterburn" Effect

When you engage in strength training, you create tiny microtears in the muscle tissue. Your body then spends the next 24-48 hours repairing those muscles, making them stronger than before.

This repair process requires energy, which means your body continues to pull sugar from your bloodstream even after you’ve finished your workout. This is why you may see improved insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control for 1-2 days after a strength training workout.

Less Risk of Lows

While steady cardio like walking, biking or swimming tends to drop blood sugars, many people find that strength training has a more stabilizing effect during the workout itself. Because lifting weights can be intense, your body releases counter-regulatory hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can help prevent your blood sugar from dropping too low and may even raise it slightly.

While some people see a temporary rise in their numbers during an intense strength training session, this is usually followed by hours of improved insulin sensitivity.

How to Get Started

You don’t necessarily need a gym membership or an expensive set of weights to get started with strength training. Keep the following tips in mind:

1. Use your body weight: Squats, wall push-ups and hallway lunges are all great forms of resistance training.
2. Start small:Aim for 2-3 strength training sessions per week, allowing at least one day of rest between sessions for muscle recovery. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your body (and your blood sugar) responds. Doing too much too quickly can increase your risk of injury.
3. Go slow: Start with light to moderate weights and gradually increase the weight and reps over time.
4. Watch your trends: As always, keep a close eye on your blood sugar levels before, during and after your workout. You may need to adjust your medication doses due to increased blood sugars during workouts or improved insulin sensitivity that follows from strength training. Keep fast-acting carbohydrates on hand to prevent low blood sugars, especially if you take insulin.
5. Safety precautions: Always check with your medical team before starting a new exercise program.

Final thoughts

Strength training can be a safe and effective tool to help with diabetes management. Maintaining muscle mass is crucial as we get older, as it protects our bones, impacts our metabolism, improves balance and protects joints. So, next time you’re thinking about your fitness routine, don’t just think about your steps. Also, make sure to consider your strength.