Diabetes and Exercise: Bridges & Chair Lifts

If you do smart exercise with diabetes, you can lower blood sugar more effectively.

The biggest muscles in the body are our:

• Butt – gluteus maximus and gluteus minimus – which is why you might have heard them called ‘glutes’
• Upper thighs (front) – quadriceps – because there are a group of 4 muscles
• Upper thighs (back) – hamstrings

Being that these are some of our biggest muscles, when it comes to diabetes and exercise, these muscles are some of the best muscles to work.

Why?

Because you want to increase your insulin sensitivity and exercising those big muscles, that host many body cells, really helps.

In type 2 diabetes, your ability to use glucose effectively is impaired. One major reason for this is that the cells in the liver and muscles don’t respond to insulin as effectively.

By incorporating regular exercise, you encourage the insulin “key” to your body cells to open up more easily, which helps lower blood glucose and helps you manage overall levels more effectively in the long-term.

Here are two exercises that use the biggest muscles so you can get your body managing glucose more efficiently.

Bridges

Bridges are an easy exercise that almost anyone can do.

The benefit of bridges is you can do them on the floor, they are easy on the joints, you can adjust your ‘lift’ to suit your level, and of course, they work the butt, and thighs (front and back).

Here’s a video to show you how to do it the pilates way.

Chair Leg Lifts

These chair leg lifts are super easy. But don’t let that make you think they aren’t effective. Oh yes, they still give you a great workout!

Even if you have bad knees, a bad back, or some other ‘bad’ area, you should be able to manage these exercises okay.

Once you build up your strength a little, strap on some ankle weights for extra resistance. If you don’t have ankle weights, use a sock or some scrap material to tie a tin can around your ankle – your tuna or canned tomatoes – these work very effectively as weights.

Here’s a second video that has a slight variation on the exercise, where he starts with a straighter leg. This will also be more difficult than doing it as outlined above.

Give these a try and get those leg muscles pumping. These are great for working your big quadriceps muscle at the top of your thigh.

More Exercises to Explore

• Squats – in different fitness levels
• Walking

Exercise vs. Nutrition for Blood Sugar Control

When it comes to managing blood sugar levels, exercise is certainly beneficial—it helps your body use insulin more efficiently and can lower glucose levels.

But if you had to focus on just one thing, nutrition is key. The food you eat directly influences your blood sugar levels every single day, meal by meal.

Even if you’re unable to exercise due to mobility issues, pain, or other health concerns, changing your eating habits alone can lead to significant improvements in blood sugar control.

That’s why nutrition should always be the foundation of any diabetes or prediabetes treatment plan. Need help with diet and nutrition? We can help.

Our scientifically-proven approach can help you lower blood sugar and A1c, lose weight and reduce or get off medication.