If you have been diagnosed with prediabetes than your physician likely recommended seeing a physical therapist – or they’ve given you a lot of reading material in which you will be encouraged to work with a physical therapist – or they’re the worst physician ever, tested your glucose levels, told you about the prediabetes prognosis and sent you on your way to do the research yourself, during which time you’ll see that physical therapy is recommended.
How can a Physical Therapist Keep Diabetes at Bay?
It can’t be too surprising to hear that the prescription for reversing prediabetes and keeping it from becoming type 2 diabetes is diet and exercise, but if it was so easy to eat better and exercise more than chances are your glucose levels wouldn’t be elevated in the first place. We know it isn’t that easy. People are busy with work and with the family and life just gets in the way. After adding on some weight, it can feel that much harder to exercise regularly – physically taking more of a toll on your body. And then there are injuries. In many cases it can be the injury itself that may have caused a decrease in exercise and the subsequent weight gain.
More than Stretches & Exercises, a Plan with Life Skills
We all have real reasons for not getting the amount of exercise we need to keep our weight and glucose levels down. At Superior Spine Care our first objective when developing a plan for someone diagnosed as prediabetic is to understand their schedule, their limits and their lifestyle. It’s our job to come up with ways to identify barriers and give our patients the skills to remove them or work around them, but the key to a successfully program always starts with us understanding you, our patient.
Brisk Exercise for 2.5 Hours per Week
Multiple studies found that people diagnosed with prediabetes who walked briskly for 2.5 hours per week were 70 percent less likely to develop diabetes. However, research shows that the intensity of physical activity is an important predictor of blood glucose control, so the more vigorous your workouts, the better.
Strength Training
Muscles feed on glucose so the more muscle mass you have, the more glucose it will take from your bloodstream and the benefits of strength training for those with type 2 diabetes have been well documented. At Superior Spine Care our physical therapist works individually with each patient to develop a strength training plan that will most fit their lifestyle. She teaches the exercise, ensuring correct form to eliminate risk of injury, and then works with each patient while they begin their journey to a more healthy lifestyle with normal glucose levels and a reduced risk for developing type 2 diabetes and other serious health issues associated with diabetes including heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and loss of toes, feet, or legs.
Contact us today by calling 440-716-8400 to schedule an evaluation with our physical therapist, Chrissy Frey, MSPT to help devise a strength-training, or resistance training, program specific to your needs.
