Exercise ... without breaking a sweat
Exercise is hugely important for health, particularly if you have difficulty controlling your blood sugar levels. The starting point for most type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, where your body stops responding to insulin, forcing the pancreas to produce ever larger amounts.
And the quickest and most effective way to reduce insulin resistance is to do more exercise.
The problem is that many people find doing exercise a bit of a chore. This is a programme that will give you the maximum benefit in the minimum time.
1: GET MOVING
The first and easiest thing you can do is stand every 30 minutes. researchers showed that just by standing up and walking every half hour, you can reduce blood sugar levels by 39 per cent and insulin levels by 26 per cent.
so get an app with an alarm that will remind you to move — every 30 minutes.
2: TAKE A STAND
A Team of researchers from the University of chester asked ten office workers to try standing for at least three hours a day for one week.
Their normal desks were put away and replaced by special standing desks. The results showed that after eating a meal their blood sugar levels fell back to normal far more quickly than before and that they also burnt an extra 50 calories an hour.
if you stand for three hours a day, for five days, that’s around 750 calories a week. Over the course of a year it would add up to 39,000 extra calories, or around 8lb (3.6kg) of fat. We can’t all stand up at work, but even small adjustments, like standing while talking on the phone, or going over to talk to a colleague rather than sending an email, will help.
3: WALK THE WALK
Aim to do 10,000 steps a day, but aim for a steady build-up. most people average around 5,000 steps a day (those who are older and overweight tend to do less), so aim to increase the number of steps you do a day by 500 every week and by the end of eight weeks you’ll be near to 10,000.
Try to build the steps into your day. start by vowing to always take the stairs, walk up escalators, and commit to walking any journey that is under a mile. You could also get off the bus a stop earlier, pace up and down while waiting for the kettle to boil, or leave your car at the far end of the car park when you go to the shops or supermarket.
4: BUILD STRENGTH
Until the age of 30 your muscles get bigger. Then, if you don’t use them, they get smaller. To retain muscles you have to do some form of resistance training.
This simple regime is designed to be done any time, any place and works as many major muscle groups as possible.
i do this at least three times a week, first thing in the morning and it only takes a few minutes.
As with any form of exercise, it would be wise to discuss with your doctor before starting, particularly if you are on medication.
Push-ups: lie face down with the palms of your hands under your shoulders and the balls of your feet touching the ground. Keep your body straight. lower your body until your elbows form a 90- degree angle and then push up. if you find this too hard, try the same exercise with your knees on the ground.
Squats: stand with your feet apart. Bend from the hips, keeping the weight in your heels. make sure your back is straight. Keep bending until your legs are at a 90-degree angle — imagine you are preparing to sit in a chair.
Push back up without bending your back. squats work the biggest muscles in your body. if you find this easy, you can make it harder with weights.
Crunches: lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor and your hands by the sides of your head. curl up your upper body without lifting your lower back off the floor.
make sure your chin is tucked in towards your chest. When your shoulders and upper back are lifted off the floor, curl back down. Bicep curls: This exercise requires a small hand weight. stand with your feet apart and your hands by your sides, with one hand holding the weight.
With your arm kept by your side, raise your hand by bending your elbow. Transfer the weight to your other hand. Plank: lie face-down on the floor Transformation: Dawn before she lost weight and (left) as she is today and then raise yourself on to your forearms and toes, so that your body forms a straight line from head to toe.
make sure your mid- section doesn’t rise or drop.
squeeze your buttocks and hold the position for as long as possible. remember, it should never cause pain in the lower back.
start your programme by doing one set of ten repeats of each of these exercises in the first week, aiming for 20-second holds in the planks. in the second week, aim for two sets of ten repeats and 40- second holds on the planks, building up to three sets and a one- minute planks by the fourth week.