Cross-Training for Diabetes

People who have diabetes really can’t exercise just once in a while -- just to get in shape for swimsuit season, for example. To control blood sugar and reduce the risk of diabetes complications, people managing diabetes make exercise a regular part of their lifestyles.

Exercise helps muscles absorb blood sugar, preventing it from building up in the bloodstream. This effect can last for hours or even days, but it’s not permanent. That’s why frequent exercise is essential for continued blood glucose (sugar) control.

While long-term exercise helps in glucose control for type 2 diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity, exercise might complicate management of blood glucose in type 1 diabetes, where the main concern is to keep a reasonable glucose level during and after exercise with diet and medication.

Anyone engaged in an ongoing exercise routine faces two challenges: fighting boredom and preventing injuries. How to meet these challenges? That’s where cross-training comes in.

Cross-Training: A Multi-Exercise Approach

Cross-training is just a fancy term for adding variety to an exercise plan by doing different activities on different days. For instance, a person may decide to walk three days a week, ride a bike two days a week and spend Saturdays working in the yard.

That’s a great mix of activities. They are all aerobic, meaning they elevate the heart rate and engage the large muscles. Aerobic exercise is best for controlling blood glucose levels, because it moves glucose out of the blood stream and into the muscles for the duration of the activity, and the effect continues for 24 to 72 hours. Each challenges different muscle groups, which helps reduce the risk of overuse injury. Best of all, the variety will keep boredom from creeping in.

Welcome to the Exercise Buffet

Developing a cross-training program is like facing a buffet full of healthy choices. Everyone can choose based on personal taste, sample new items to discover preferences and avoid whatever does not appeal to them.

Here’s a partial list of activities that a person putting together a cross-training plan might consider. They are all aerobic activities:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Biking
• Jogging
• Cleaning the house
• Taking a group exercise class
• Rowing
• Cross-country skiing
• Ice skating
• Jumping rope
• Dancing
• Hiking
• Mowing the lawn
• Taking the dog for a long walk
• Climbing stairs

One person’s cross-training program might include swimming three mornings a week, walking twice a week and mowing the lawn on Saturdays. Another might dance on Friday nights and walk after dinner each weeknight. Whatever suits the individual’s unique preferences, abilities and schedule -- that’s cross-training.

Considerations for Cross-Training and Diabetes

People with diabetes should keep several things in mind when choosing cross-training activities or any exercise program. Is there retinopathy? Peripherial or autonomic neuropathy? Kidney disease? Peripheral vascular disease? These issues should be discussed with a health care provider.

Aerobic exercises, done with near-daily frequency, are best for blood-glucose control. The CDC and the American College of Sports Medicine jointly recommend that most adults should engage in moderate-intensity physical activity for at least 30 minutes five or more days per week.

It’s important for health care providers to be well-informed about any exercise programs. They will know if an exercise requires special precautions or if some activities should be avoided completely.

Also, common sense should be used as a guide. If an activity causes pain, stop immediately. Different equipment or some guidance may be needed. Working through the pain is not the way to go. Cross-training should reduce the risk of injury, not increase it.

Cross-training involves starting slowly and keeping at it. Achieving immediate results should not be the emphasis; establishing a healthy exercise routine as a part of everyday life should be the main goal.

Cross-Training and Health Clubs

Most commercial health clubs and community center facilities are full of options for cross-training, such as treadmills, stationary bikes, stair-steppers and rowing machines.

Many health clubs offer group exercise classes, a choice many will find appealing. Instructors should be notified of a person’s health status and participants shouldn’t be afraid to take a breather whenever their body tells them to.

Cross-Training Machines

Health clubs also have something called cross-training machines. These involve two vertical poles attached to a stair-stepping machine, offering an excellent workout that challenges the upper and lower body at the same time.

However, that’s not the kind of cross-training we’re talking about here. Using nothing but this machine could still lead to overuse injuries and boredom. Doing a variety of activities is the key to avoiding these two enemies of exercisers.

_Sources:

"Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes." Diabetes Care. 2002. American Diabetes Association. 3 Sep. 2007. <http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/27/suppl_1/s58>.

"What I Need to Know About Physical Activity and Diabetes." National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. June 2004. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, National Institutes of Health. 3 Sep. 2007. <http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/physical_ez/>.

Bryant, Cedric. "What is Cross Training, and Does It Offer Any Significant Benefits?" American Council on Exercise. 1999. 9 Sep. 2007. <http://www.acefitness.org/fitfacts/fitnessqa_display.aspx?itemid=269&Category=Cardiovascular%20Exercise>.