If physical activity were a drug, we would refer to it as a miracle cure, due to the great many illnesses it can prevent and help treat.¹

Research shows exercising regularly reduces your risk of more than 20 medical conditions, including dementia, heart disease, stroke, depression, certain cancers and hip fracture.¹ Being active can also help control your weight, boost your mood and help you get more out of life, especially if you find a type of exercise you enjoy.¹

How much exercise should I do?

The UK’s Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines recommend that every adult does 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five times every week, in sessions of at least 10 minutes.⁵ Adults are also advised to do some kind of muscle strengthening exercise, such as weight training, carrying heavy shopping or yoga, twice a week.⁵

‘Moderate’ means exercising hard enough to get your heart beating faster and make you warm and slightly out of breath. Bear in mind though the guidelines are for people who don’t have medical conditions that can make it harder to exercise. Talk to your healthcare professional about the level of exercising that’s safe for you.

If you’re not currently active, you could work up slowly to the recommended level – for example, by going for a 10-minute brisk walk. The good news is, any amount of activity has benefits and is better than none.⁵

What kind of exercise is best?

Everyone’s different, and the best kind of exercise for you is the one that you enjoy, as you’re more likely to make it a regular habit.³

Check with your diabetes care team if you have any concerns about starting a new type of activity. As well as exercising regularly, it’s important to avoid long spells of sitting. Most adults spend more than seven hours a day sitting down, either at home or at work.¹ Research suggests that a sedentary lifestyle may be as dangerous to health as smoking,⁷ so it makes sense to get up from the TV or computer screen and move around as often as you can.

Exercising with diabetes

Being active can benefit your HbA1c and help insulin work better in your body – either the insulin you take or the insulin your body makes. This helps keep your blood sugar levels within target and helps prevent other health problems linked to diabetes, known as complications.³