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Strength training is one of the most effective treatments for Type 2 Diabetes.

Strength training can boost your metabolism, help you lose weight, decrease body fat and stabilise your blood glucose levels. This helps reduce the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. 

Type 2 Diabetes is ‘diabetes by choice’, harsh but true! Having Type 2 Diabetes is completely up to you. This is because it is caused by your diet and your lifestyle. Getting past the cold reality, there is a silver lining. If your behaviours cause the illness then your behaviours can reverse it too. 

It is common knowledge that a sedentary life style, partnered with a diet of highly processed carbohydrates, such as sugar, leads to an increase in your likelihood to develop Type 2 Diabetes.

So what is Type 2 Diabetes? It is a condition in which your pancreas becomes fatigued and stops working, leading to your body’s inability to control you blood glucose levels.   Left untreated Type 2 Diabetes will cause circulatory problems leading to limb loss, as well as excessive obesity leading to heart disease and other related conditions. 

So how can strength training help the prevention and reversal of type two diabetes?

Firstly strength training will increase your metabolism. This will improve your body’s ability to function, leading to better circulation and better heart function.

Secondly regular strength training will increase your body’s ability to burn fat, leading to a decrease in visceral fat and your overall body weight. A reduction in visceral fat is specifically associated with a reduction in diabetes and more importantly, heart disease too.

Finally, strength training assists the body in reducing and then stabilising your blood glucose levels, which is the direct cause of the secretion of insulin. When a person has Type 2 Diabetes their blood glucose levels tend to be out of control, with the body not being able to effectively control these levels. What regular strength training does is reduce the blood glucose levels and help stabilise them, thus allowing the body to function more effectively.

Strength training at least once a week has been shown to decrease your likelihood of developing Type 2 Diabetes, but like with everything it needs to be partnered with a healthy balanced diet. 

So let’s look at the five major steps to preventing Type 2 Diabetes:

1. Reduce your intake of processed carbohydrates and sugar 
2. Focus on eating real food, such as fruit and vegetables
3. Eat fat and protein with every single meal and snack
4. Participate in a strength training program at least once or twice a week
5. Get your blood glucose levels tested every 12 months after age 30yrs