Our Skilled Grapevine Podiatrists Explain the Benefits of Exercise for Diabetes Management and How a Foot Doctor Can Help
If you have diabetes, exercise can play a major role in managing your condition. However, diabetes can lead to conditions that affect your feet and legs, and exercising when you have diabetic foot ulcers, neuropathy, or other foot problems commonly associated with diabetes can be challenging. 
With proper diabetic foot care, it’s possible to take care of your feet so you can get the exercise you need. The diabetic foot doctors at Alliance Foot & Ankle Specialists discuss the important role exercise can play in diabetes management and how podiatric care can help you maintain foot health.
7 Ways Exercise Helps to Manage Diabetes
Exercise can help you manage your diabetes, reduce your risk of developing complications related to diabetes, and improve your overall health. Our podiatrists discuss seven important ways exercise can play a role in diabetes management:
1. Improving Blood Sugar Control
Exercise can play a significant role in controlling blood sugar levels, which is a critical aspect of diabetes management. Exercise helps muscles use glucose for energy, which can reduce blood sugar levels and help prevent spikes.
Additionally, regular physical activity makes your body more sensitive to and able to effectively utilize insulin, the hormone that helps cells absorb glucose from the blood.
2. Helping With Weight Management
Exercise burns calories, which can help you achieve or maintain a healthy weight. For a person with diabetes who is overweight, losing even a small amount of weight can help with blood sugar control.
Additionally, exercise helps reduce body fat, particularly abdominal fat, which is closely linked to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
3. Increasing Muscle Mass
Including strength training in your workouts can help build and maintain muscle mass. Because muscle tissue uses more glucose than fat tissue, this can aid in blood sugar control.
4. Reducing Cardiovascular Risk
Diabetes elevates a person’s risk for cardiovascular disease, but regular exercise can positively impact cardiovascular health. Exercise can strengthen the heart, lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and enhance circulation, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Exercise can also help reduce high blood pressure, which is a common issue in people with diabetes and a significant risk factor for heart disease.
5. Helping Overcome Diabetes-Related Fatigue
People with diabetes often experience excessive fatigue. Exercise can reduce the fatigue often associated with diabetes by improving cardiovascular health and muscular strength. Regular exercise can also improve overall fitness, endurance, and stamina, making everyday activities easier and less tiring.
6. Improving Sleep
Insufficient sleep can lead to elevated blood sugar levels, so it’s important for patients with diabetes to get plenty of high-quality sleep. Regular exercise can help regulate sleep patterns and lead to better-quality sleep, which is important for blood sugar control and overall health.
7. Preventing or Delaying Complications
Regular exercise can help prevent or delay the onset of diabetes-related complications, including nerve, eye, and kidney damage. As a result, exercising regularly can contribute to a longer, healthier life.
5 Types of Exercise That Can Help Diabetes Management
Incorporating regular exercise into your lifestyle can be a powerful way to help manage diabetes, although it's important to choose the right exercise for your current level of fitness and medical condition. When you first start exercising, it’s best to start slowly. Begin with low-intensity exercises and gradually increase the intensity and duration. Examples of exercise types that may be appropriate for individuals with diabetes include:
Daily Activity and Movement
Many people find incorporating more movement into everyday activities a great way to start an exercise regimen. Anything you do that increases your overall physical activity level can help with blood sugar control and weight management. Small changes like taking the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator, standing up or walking around while talking on the phone, or walking short distances instead of driving can make a big difference. Even household chores and yardwork can count as physical activity.
Flexibility and Balance Exercises
Participating in activities that improve your range of motion, flexibility, and balance is a great way to boost your physical activity. Regularly participating in activities like yoga, Pilates, and tai chi can improve your flexibility and balance. They can help prevent injuries, improve joint health, and support overall physical mobility.
Strength Training and Resistance Exercises
Exercises designed to help build muscle strength can increase muscle mass, which helps the body use glucose more effectively. These types of exercises also boost metabolism and aid in weight loss. Examples of strength training and resistance exercises include working out with weights or resistance bands or bodyweight exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, and squats, that use your body weight for resistance.
Core Strengthening Exercises
Exercises that strengthen the core muscles, including the abdominal and back muscles, can improve your overall body stability, support better posture, and reduce the risk of back pain, which can be common in people with diabetes. Leg raises, crunches, sit-ups, and planks are examples of core-strengthening exercises.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise can enhance cardiovascular health and fitness. It can also help improve insulin sensitivity, manage weight, and reduce blood sugar levels. Aerobic exercise includes activities such as walking, jogging, running, cycling, swimming, dancing, and rowing. The key is to engage in an activity that increases your breathing and heart rate.
Key Reasons to See a Podiatrist Before Starting an Exercise Routine
Before starting any new exercise program, it's essential to consult your diabetes care team to ensure the exercise plan you are considering is safe and suitable for you. Because the condition of your feet will impact your efforts to exercise and what type of workout may be best for you, it’s important to see a foot doctor before changing your activity level.
Individualized Diagnosis and Treatment Plan
A podiatrist will thoroughly evaluate your feet and ankles and review your medical history to identify any diabetic foot problems you may have and talk to you about any actions or treatments you may need before starting an exercise routine. For example, they can diagnose and treat diabetic foot wounds and help you understand if your feet may be impacted by neuropathy and, if so, how that may impact how you should care for your feet and approach exercise.
Recommendations for Appropriate Diabetic Footwear
Additionally, it’s important to wear the right footwear during exercise and during the day. Proper shoes that fit well and provide sufficient support can help prevent foot injuries, which are a significant concern for people with diabetes. After doing an individualized assessment of your feet, your podiatrist can recommend the best type of diabetic shoes or custom orthotics appropriate for you to wear.
Foot Strengthening Exercises
Your foot doctor can also share foot-strengthening exercises that may help improve your foot health and prepare your feet for the increased activity that can ultimately help improve your diabetes and reduce the associated risks to your feet and overall health. This is why a podiatrist should be part of any diabetic care team.
Contact Us to Discuss Your Diabetes Management
If you’re in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, schedule an appointment with our Keller and Grapevine podiatrists. Dr. Richard A. Nichols and Dr. Steven Garvey, our Texas diabetic foot doctors, are caring and empathetic and have experience working with patients who have diabetes. They can help prepare you to safely incorporate exercise for diabetes managment into your lifestyle.