The Awesome Power of Exercise to Manage Blood Glucose

​To understand the role exercise plays in blood glucose (regulation) levels we must first understand the normal process of regulation your body goes through. When glucose levels begin to increase, messages are sent to your pancreas which then produces insulin. This insulin acts like keys unlocking the cells within your body to absorb the glucose. Therefore, reducing the level of glucose in your blood.

For people living with diabetes two things can happen that reduce the effectiveness of this response. The first is that the pancreas is not creating enough insulin or keys so the cells remain locked and unable to absorb glucose. The second is when the pancreas continues to create enough insulin but the cells no longer respond in the same way, as if the locks have changed and the key no longer fits. This is called insulin resistance.

​When we exercise our muscles need energy to continue moving, and the major fuel source in our body is glucose. When our muscles start moving glucose is taken out of the blood and into the muscles to be used for energy. Resulting in an immediate reduction in blood glucose levels as we move, bypassing the locked door and opening a window. 

​When is comes to exercise both aerobic and resistance training have been proven to reduce blood glucose levels. We will outline how they do this in our next blog post later this week.

A great way to get started is to find a form of exercise you can and will do regularly. If that sounds hard, or you feel like you've tried exercising before but just haven't found something you'll stick at come and see us at Simply Stronger.

As Exercise Physiologist (EP) we help people use exercise to improve their health and wellbeing everyday. For people living with Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes we help them by building exercise routines that fit into their lifestyle. Helping them to move more and take back control of their blood glucose levels.

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There are many ways you can see an EP at Simply Stronger. ​

• We work with you to understand your goals and motivation to develop a home based exercise program you can implement yourself.
• We can even come to your home to help build your program or train with you their.
• We can build you a gym program for use at your local gym and help you to progress it at your pace.
• Come and train with us at Simply Stronger in our 1:1 sessions or small groups.
• Combine these approaches.

Take control of your health and book in to see an one of our EPs today. ​

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