Creating an exercise routine that you enjoy can take time, patience, and determination. To stay motivated and continue reaping the benefits of exercise for diabetes, keep your routines fresh by trying new workouts, schedule them in advance, and regularly check in on your progress.
For the days when you just don’t feel like exercising, even 10 minutes of physical activity can boost your heart health and help you stay motivated long-term.
6 Great Exercises for People With Diabetes
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Why Exercise Is Important for Type 2 Diabetes Management
Understanding how regular exercise can benefit your type 2 diabetes plan can provide some exercise motivation.
Exercise helps train the body to use insulin better long term, says Jill Weisenberger, RDN, CDCES, who’s based in Newport News, Virginia, and is the author of Diabetes Weight Loss: Week by Week. In addition, regular physical activity can help boost your weight loss efforts. It can also reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and lower your risk of heart disease, says Matthew Corcoran, MD, CDCES, an endocrinologist with Shore Physicians Group in Somers Point, New Jersey, and the founder of a diabetes training camp.
Most adults with diabetes need at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every week, aiming for five to six days of exercise per week for the most benefits. Health experts also recommend two to three strength-training workouts per week.
How to Boost Your Exercise Motivation
Even if you know the many benefits of exercise, that doesn’t always make it easy to keep up with your workout plan. If you’re having trouble staying motivated, try these seven tips to maintain your exercise motivation and make physical activity a permanent part of your diabetes management routine.
1. Take Baby Steps When Beginning an Exercise Routine
If you’re not used to being active and then suddenly run five miles on your first day of exercise, you’ll be sore on day 2, perhaps with blisters on your feet, and be ready to throw in the towel. Instead, start slowly by walking 10 minutes each day. As your fitness levels improve, add a few minutes to your walking routine each week, until you reach a goal of 30 minutes of brisk walking, five days a week. Consider the time of day that you’re exercising, too. It may be difficult committing to an early-morning workout every day, but perhaps a brisk walk after dinner seems more doable. Research even suggests that walking after a meal can help lower blood sugar levels.
2. Choose a Physical Activity You Enjoy Doing
You’re also more likely to stick with your exercise plan if it’s fun, invigorating, and suits your abilities. For example, if you don’t enjoy walking on a treadmill, it will be hard to stay motivated to step on it every day. Yet, if you like walking briskly outside, as long as you have the proper gear for the weather, you’re likely to make time for it every day, Weisenberger says. Trying new activities can also keep fitness fresh and exciting, she adds. For example, switch up your walking routine and try a yoga routine, which has been shown to improve blood sugar levels when done regularly.
3. Use the Buddy System to Increase Accountability
Try doing an exercise class with a friend, whether meeting up in person or joining a live-stream class online. An exercise partner helps the time pass more quickly and takes your mind off the effort you need to exercise, says Rob Powell, PhD, CDCES, the program director of exercise science at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Pick a buddy who will hold you accountable and encourage you to show up for your session.
4. Reward Yourself With Healthy Treats for Breaking a Sweat
Celebrate milestones, such as sticking to your plan for one week, one month, two months, and so on. Try to avoid celebrating with food. Instead, use it as an opportunity to take your fitness goals to the next level. Treat yourself to an online shopping spree for new workout clothes, or sign up for an online boutique fitness class.
5. Formally Schedule Your Sweat Sessions
Block out the time in your daily planner, especially if the day tends to get away from you. Seeing exercise on your daily to-do list reminds you that it’s a priority. If it helps, you can break your exercise routine up into smaller chunks throughout your day. Maybe 10 minutes before work, 10 minutes on your lunch break, and 10 minutes after dinner.
6. Prep for Your Workouts a Day in Advance
Lay out your clothes for your morning workout before you go to bed at night, or even sleep in them. You can also pack your gym bag so you can just grab and go when you leave in the morning. “If your gym clothes are stuck in the back of your closet, you’re less likely to reach for them,” Dr. Powell says.
7. Check Your Blood Sugar Before and After Exercise
This shows you how much exercise helps improve blood sugar management. “When you see how your body reacts to different types of exercises and the length and intensity of your workout, it can motivate you to stick with what works,” Weisenberger says. Also, be sure to keep glucose tablets or juice boxes in your gym bag or locker so that you can address an episode of low blood sugar if one occurs. And stop if you feel shaky or anxious. Be sure to talk to your doctor about proper levels related to exercise, and how to avoid low blood sugar during your workout.
The Takeaway
If you’re new to an exercise routine, start slowly, with just 10 minutes a day. Gradually build up to 30 minutes a day, five times a week, to get in the recommended 150 minutes of exercise each week.
Do activities that you enjoy. If you’re not a fan of running inside on the treadmill, opt for a walk outside instead.
If you’re bored with your current routine, switch it up, or meet up with a friend for an in-person exercise class of your choosing.
Regularly check in on your weight loss goals and blood sugar levels. Seeing positive changes can help you maintain your exercise motivation long-term.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:Get Active
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Kanaley JA et al. Exercise/Physical Activity in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes: A Consensus Statement from the American College of Sports Medicine. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. February 1, 2022.
Sandy Bassin, MD, is an endocrinology fellow at Mount Sinai in New York City. She is passionate about incorporating lifestyle medicine and plant-based nutrition into endocrinology, particularly for diabetes and obesity management.
She trained at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, where she taught culinary medicine classes to patients and medical trainees. She continued her training at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Dr. Bassin has published reviews of nutrition education in medical training and physical activity in type 2 diabetes in Nutrition Reviews, Endocrine Practice, and the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. She has been featured on the Physician to Physician Plant-Based Nutrition podcast and given many presentations on lifestyle interventions in endocrine disorders.
She stays active through yoga and gardening, and loves to cook and be outdoors.
Beth W. Orenstein is a freelance writer for HealthDay, Radiology Today, the Living Well section of TheAmerican Legion Magazine, St. Luke’s University Health Network, and others. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University (1978), where she majored in English and was editor of the student newspaper for three years.
No matter the weather around her eastern Pennsylvania home, Orenstein either bikes 25 to 30 miles or walks at least 6 miles every day. Her one indulgence is blueberry pancakes — but only after biking a long distance.
