Being active is an important part of managing your diabetes. It can lower your blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol.
Keeping active helps you improve your wellbeing, manage stress, manage your weight, maintain healthy joints and muscles.
If you are currently not active, try to start moving more. Doing some physical activity is better than none.
Physical activity for type 2 diabetes
Try to do:
- moderate-intensity activity
- sit less
- muscle strengthening
Moderate-intensity activity
Try to be physically active at a moderate intensity for at least 2 hours 30 minutes a week.
You'll know it's moderate-intensity activity if it:
- makes you breathe faster
- raises your heart rate
- makes you feel warmer or slightly sweaty
You will feel able to carry on a conversation.
Examples of moderate-intensity activity include:
- brisk walking
- cycling
- digging in the garden
- dancing
Small amounts of activity all count. For example, do 10-minute chunks of activity at a time.
For more health benefits, try to increase your activity to more than 5 hours moderate activity a week.
Tips on how to get active with a health condition
Sit less
Try to break up long periods of time spent sitting. For example, when you're watching TV or using your computer.
Get up every 30 minutes and stand or walk for 2 to 3 minutes. This helps to lower your blood glucose levels.
Strengthen your muscles
Muscle-strengthening or resistance exercises can help.
These might include:
- lifting weights
- using resistance bands
- body weight exercises
- yoga
- Pilates
- climbing
- lifting children or heavy items
- climbing stairs
- wheeling a wheelchair
If you can, try to do these exercises on at least 2 days a week, spread across the week.
