Diabetes and Exercise

Outline for the videotape "Diabetes & Exercise", from The American Association of Diabetes Educators Patient Education Video Series, produced by Milner-Fenwick, Inc., copyright 1999.

**Funded through a grant from the Friends of the University of Michigan Hospitals. **

  1. Benefits of exercise
    1. Helps control blood sugar
    2. Helps you lose weight, improves muscle tone
    3. Reduces risk of heart disease, stroke
    4. Helps you feel good
    5. Decreases cholesterol
    6. Decreases blood pressure
    7. Relieves stress

      8.  
  2. Develop plan for exercise program
    1. Must become an ongoing part of your life
    2. Aerobic exercise is best, e.g. walking, biking, swimming
    3. Everyone can include exercise in their life
    4. Before starting an exercise program, discuss with your doctor and diabetes care team
    5. Can do outdoors or indoors
    6. Keep moving for at least 20 minutes

      7.  
  3. Avoiding injury
    1. Exercise session should include:
      1. Warm up
      2. Stretch
      3. Exercise for at least 20 minutes, 3 times per week
      4. Cool down
      5. Stretch again
    2. Gradually increase activity – longer and more frequent
    3. Check your heart rate

      4.  
  4. Exercise Tips
    1. Find the time – make exercise a priority
    2. Set goals for yourself
    3. Exercise with a friend
    4. Reward yourself
    5. Keep a log of your exercise with blood sugars before and after
    6. Include physical activity into your daily routines
    7. Maintain good feet and skin care to prevent problems
    8. Wear comfortable clothes
    9. Avoid dehydration - drink water before/during/after exercise
    10. Stay indoors if bad weather

      11.  
  5. Safety – Prevention of Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) while exercising
    1. Know symptoms of low blood sugar: sweating, rapid heart beat, shakiness, hunger, headache, mood changes, irritability, confusion
    2. If symptoms develop:
      1. stop exercising at once
      2. test your blood sugar
      3. treat low blood sugar, carry something to treat with you
      4. rest for 15 minutes, then retest
      5. if blood sugar is still low or still have symptoms, treat again and repeat above steps
    3. Exercise with a friend – teach them signs of low blood sugar and how to help
    4. Wear diabetes identification
    5. Late onset hypoglycemia – low blood sugars that develop long after exercise
    6. To prevent hypoglycemia:
      1. exercise 1-2 hours after eating
      2. don’t exercise during peak action of medications
      3. discuss with diabetes care team

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