Tired of taking all that diabetes medication? There is another way.

What if there was a way for diabetics to control their sugar levels besides injections? There is. A quote from this study, High-Intensity Resistance Training Improves Glycemic Control in Older Patients With Type 2 Diabetes | Diabetes Care:

High-intensity progressive resistance training, in combination with moderate weight loss, was effective in improving glycemic control in older patients with type 2 diabetes. Additional benefits of improved muscular strength and LBM [lean body mass] identify high-intensity resistance training as a feasible and effective component in the management program for older patients with type 2 diabetes.”

High-intensity progressive resistance training is what we offer at Austin Strength Training and New Orleans Strength Training. One our diabetic clients, Leif, went from five shots a day down to one. When Leif first started he was overweight. He had already had a kidney removed and bypass heart surgery. He began high-intensity progressive resistance training once a week, he made modest changes in his eating habits, and he used a rowing machine at home. In the eight years he has been training with us his physical abilities have dramatically changed. Each week he did a little bit more than he was used to handling. Each week he improved, and over time, the change was transformative. Our state of health eight years from now will depend on the lifestyle choices we make now. Better to find time for exercise now or you might have to make time for sickness and injury later.

Kenyans versus cheetahs, who wins?

From the BBC, Kenyans chase down and catch goat-killing cheetahs:

“The men waited until the hottest part of the day before launching the chase over a distance of four miles (6.4km).

The cheetahs got so tired they could not run any more. The villagers captured them alive and handed them over to the Kenya Wildlife Service.”

Cheetahs are fast but cannot run long distances. A cheetah’s muscles produce speed, a goose’s muscles are more for endurance, and human muscles are made for both. We have slow-twitch muscle fiber for endurance and fast-twitch muscle fiber for power and speed. Most of us will have an average mix, but there will be outliers.

One marathon runner’s biopsies of his legs indicated that his legs were 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fiber. That runner will never excel in sprints no matter how hard he tries, and cheetahs will never be long distance runners.

As personal trainers we see differences in responses to exercise. Most people fall in the middle of the curve, but some outliers are able to produce surprising strength for their size. They tend to diminish in strength quickly. Others seem comparatively weak, but they can often sustain exercise for a much longer period of time. Good trainers will recognize those individual differences and adjust the training program accordingly.

At Austin Fitness Trainers and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we will develop the training program that is right for you; one that is safe, efficient, and effective for your condition and age.