
Why Resistance Training is Great for Diabetes Management
What if I told you that I have the magic formula for looking good, feeling amazing, and using less insulin (or other diabetes drugs)?!! Would you believe me?
Well I do have a magic formula!
But it’s not really magic, and you will have to work for it. The good news is that there is a readily available way of achieving those three things. It’s called resistance training.
What kind of magic is this?
From a diabetes perspective, resistance training really seems like magic, since it’s one of the most powerful ways to significantly improve insulin sensitivity.
Improved insulin sensitivity makes it easier to manage your diabetes (once you understand the new sensitivity patterns) and can significantly reduce the amount of diabetes drugs needed (goes for both T1D and T2D).
Think of your muscles as a lot of little “gas tanks” that can store glucose. Because glucose from your food is mainly absorbed by your muscle tissue, resistance training (which builds muscle mass) is particularly good at improving blood sugars after meals.
An added (and very welcome) benefit of resistance training is that you use a lot of energy (calories) to build and maintain your muscles, making it an excellent weight management tool. You don’t have to build bodybuilder-sized muscles to achieve this effect, or even the amount of muscle mass I have. Any improvement from where you are now will help.
Besides the (pretty awesome) diabetes management benefits, resistance training also has a large number of other health benefits, like improving bone density, strengthening your joints, and improving your m
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