Why People Living With Diabetes Need Strength Training and a Sample Workout

[caption id="attachment_20682" align="alignright" width="300"] The Chest Press - a great exercise for working your upper body[/caption]

Hi it’s Christel, I’m back. In my last post: “ Why People Living With Diabetes Need Strength Training ” I promised you a sample workout you can use to start your health and fitness journey.

So what’s the difference between a resistance training workout for someone who hasn’t lifted weight before and a workout for someone who is more experienced? Well, when you start working out with weights, you are putting a lot of stress on not only your muscles, but also your tendons, ligaments and nervous system in a new way. Your workouts need to be tailored to your fitness level to make sure that you don’t hurt yourself.

As a personal trainer, it’s unfortunately very common to meet people who injured themselves because they picked a workout routine out of a fitness magazine and tried to throw heavy weights around like the bodybuilder. To avoid that, I recommend that you start out with moderate weight, higher rep ranges, and mostly use machines instead of free weights. The good news is that you will progress very quickly in the beginning, and after a month or two you can start including free weights, heavier weights, and more advanced exercises in your routine.

Why People Living With Diabetes Need Strength Training: The Program

I suggest you try to get to the gym three times per week and have at least one rest day between workouts where you let your muscles rest and repair. Always start a workout with least five minutes of warmup (elliptical, treadmill, stairs, jump rope, etc.).

This routine hits all the major muscle groups and should take about 60 min. to complete. Do this workout for four weeks before making any changes.

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest time
Leg press	12-15	4	1-2 min
Chest Press	12-15	3	1 min
Lateral pull down	12-15	3	1 min
Shoulder press	12-15	3	1 min
Triceps push down	12-15	3	1 min

A rep means how many times you move the weight. For example doing one chest press would be one rep. Sets are how many times you repeat the amount of reps. For example, doing 10 reps, resting, and then doing 10 more is considered two sets of 10 reps. 

[caption id="attachment_20683" align="alignleft" width="332"] Want a nice looking back? The lat pull down is a great exercise[/caption]

What is Intensity?

Focus on doing all the exercises with correct form and push yourself from workout to workout. You want to feel your muscles burning on the last rep of every set. If you can complete more than 15 reps on any set, it’s time to increase the resistance.

How to use the 'Progression' principle

Use a workout log to write how much you lift on each exercise and try to add weight from workout to workout to continually push your body. If you are new to lifting weights, adding 3-4% to every lift each workout is not unrealistic. If you are a little more experienced, aim for 2-3%.

Listen to your body’s warning signals. If you feel any pain (not just soreness) in your muscles or joints, take it easy and give your body time to heal.

Why is 'Technique' crucial?

It’s important that you do the exercises correctly to get the full effect of the exercises and to avoid injuries. Get instructions from a trainer on exactly how to do any exercises that you are not familiar with.

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Author Bio: Christel Oerum

Christel writes the fitness blog TheFitBlog.com together with her husband. Here she blogs about health, fitness, and how to be Fit With Diabetes. If you want to take your health and fitness to the next level, you can download her Female Fitness Program. Follow Christel on TheFitBlog and/or Facebook. You can also email her directly at Christel@Thefitblog.com