Physical Activity

By Sheri R. Colberg: Exploring the Benefits of Spontaneous Physical Activity

You’ve probably heard about the recent reports revealing just how dangerous it is to be sedentary. Simply sitting for too long at one time is now a recognized health hazard that everyone should be aware of. But if you suffer from diabetes or prediabetes, a sedentary lifestyle is particularly dangerous. Getting regular exercise and movement is one of the most important things you can do to keep your blood glucose under control, maintain a healthy body weight, and reduce your risk of developing complications related to diabetes.

Decades ago, going to an International Diabetic Athletes Association (IDAA) meeting in 1990 helped shaped the future direction of my career in diabetes and exercise. I remember talking with people about managing blood glucose with type 1 diabetes during activities of varying types and intensities, and my interest in compiling such useful information led to my first book attempting to create a guide for exercisers with diabetes in 2001. IDAA later became the Diabetes Exercise & Sports Association (DESA), and it later combined with InsulinDependence.org. Sadly, all those organizations are now defunct, the latest casualties of money problems that many not-for-profit organizations have experienced of late.

Benefits of exercise shown to depend on duration, not exercise type

By Sheri R. Colberg, PhD: Much of the research on length of life for individuals living with type 1 diabetes is pessimistic, which makes a new study released recently a breath of fresh air. Data were collected for the ongoing nationwide, multicenter, Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy (FinnDiane) Study that tracked the death rate of 2,639 study participants.

Living with diabetes often leads me to wonder if what I’m experiencing—particularly when it’s an irritated joint or an overuse injury—is a consequence of being a regularly physically active person, getting older, or having diabetes, or some combination of those. Which one of these is causing my joint issues? Is it possible to know? I will attempt to answer these questions based on my deeper dive into the published research.

In this Exclusive Interview, Sheri Colberg talks with Diabetes in Control Publisher Steve Freed during the ADA meeting in San Diego, California about the necessity and even ease of working physical activity into everyday life, the necessary and best types of exercise, and its possible impact on most people.

In part 1 of this Exclusive Interview, Sheri Colberg talks with Diabetes in Control Publisher Steve Freed during the ADA meeting in San Diego, California about the recent exercise position statement presented at ADA.

In part 2 of this Exclusive Interview, Sheri Colberg talks with Diabetes in Control Publisher Steve Freed during the ADA meeting in San Diego, California about the types of exercise that are good for everyone.

In part 3 of this Exclusive Interview, Sheri Colberg shares some atypical balance exercises with Diabetes in Control Publisher Steve Freed during the ADA meeting in San Diego, California about.

In part 4 of this Exclusive Interview, Sheri Colberg talks with Diabetes in Control Publisher Steve Freed during the ADA meeting in San Diego, California about resistance -- the exercise everyone should be doing -- and its benefits.