Well, it’s finally happened - my doctor tells me that my excessively high blood sugar levels and high blood pressure are going to land me in the hospital with kidney failure if I don’t do something about it. I’m a type 2 diabetic and I’ve known for a long time that the single best thing I could do for myself is lose weight and get in shape. At this point, I have no choice - I either do it or die a slow death and/or drown in a sea of debt (I have no heath insurance). So I joined a gym yesterday and, fear being an excellent motivator, I expect I’ll be spending quite a bit of time there from now on.
Now, I can walk on treadmills and ride stationary bicycles all day, but I’d like to get into a more comprehensive exercise routine, so I’m looking for book recommendations. I just need to know what the heck I’m doing. I’m looking for a book that will help me design a simple exercise regimen that will help me tone and strengthen all my major muscle groups. I have access to all sorts of cool equipment at the gym, so that’s no problem. I’m not looking to become an athlete or dive into the latest excerise fad - I just want good, solid information for someone who’s never really done this sort of thing before.
Just so we’re clear, I’m not looking for diet or diabetes-related information. I’ll be seeing a diabetes specialist shortly, so I should have those angles covered pretty well. Also, any pointers to web sites would be cool, too, since that doesn’t involve actually spending money.
There are good, free resources all over the web. Check out ExRx, Krista Smash!, and Dr. Squat. The second is targeted at women, but there’s a lot of good advice there for beginners. The third has some good articles–ignore the rest of the site until you’ve been going for a while.
Here’ s the thing. I’ve been exercising for years…doing it wrong the whole time. I used to think that exercising was about being tough and really pushing yourself in the gym…grunting and sweating. And I never lost a pound. Usually I just gained weight.
But recently I discovered the target heart rate plan…which simply is to exercise (treadmill for me) within your target heart range for an ample amount of time (20-60 minutes). It’s very simple and you’ll be amazed at how reasonable exercising in your range is. I only discovered this after my trainer realized I could only go on the treadmill for about 20 minutes…I was hurting. He hooked up a heart rate monitor and I was exercising at 178 bpm! So he got me down to about 145bmp, which is a brisk walk. At first I was skeptical like how can I possibly lose weight just walking, but now I can walk for 45 minutes without too much stress and have lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks (from 182 to 170).
The notion that if you can lose weight at 145bmp then you should be able to lose a lot more at 178bmp is false. It has to do with the way your body exercises: aerobically or anaerobically. You can do your own research if you want but it boils down to the notion that if you’re exercising above your target heart rate, your blood can’t reoxigenate fast enough and your body goes into “store” mode (much like starving yourself makes your body store fat). I’ve also started doing some circuit training on off days to balance my plan so I don’t start losing lean muscle mass.
I got my wife on the plan after seeing her kill herself on the treadmill for 2 quick miles and showing no results. She’s down from 127 to 121 in the same 3 weeks. But here’s the catch: You don’t have to be tough, but you do have to put in the time. We’ve been doing this at least 5 days a week.
As a diabetic resistance training is ideal for you. Weight training has been shown to lower cell insulin resistance by 28%. Combined with a proper diet, weight training, done properly, has so many benifits I often wonder why anybody would opt to not do it.
Building muscle (and I am not talking about hulking behemoth type muscles) increases metabolism by burning more calories just by being at rest, increases cell senstivity to insulin, increases muscular endurance, allows better bone density (severly decreses chances of osteoperosis in any age), increases size of bone connective tissue.
I would follow all of ultrafilter’s links and read them, Exrx.net has some great book recommendations.
Remember to combine aerobic exercise of some sort in with your resistance training, weight training can increase cardiovascular health by 5%, but aerobics can increase it by another 25%. Just don’t fall into the trap that so many people do, and feel that resistance training has nothing to offer you.
Thanks, guys - this stuff is great! Exrx is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for, and those other sites have some good stuff, too.
Epimetheus, I had no idea resistance training was so good for diabetes. Forgive my ignorance, but I assume by “resistance training” you’re referring to weights, machines, etc. as opposed to aerobics (treadmill, stationary bicycle, etc.), yes? I just want to make sure I understand correctly.
metroshane, that’s interesting. I guess I’ve been doing it right by accident. I never push myself really hard - just hard enough to work up a reasonable sweat and feel like I’m actually working. The treadmill is quickly becoming my best friend. Heh… I figured that “putting in the time” was essential anyway, so I’m shooting for 7 days a week. That way, if I miss a few here or there, no big deal.
Well, I’ve only been going to the gym for three days and already I have logged the lowest blood sugar level I’ve ever had (131, whereas my usual is in the 200+ range). Thanks again for all your replies!