Quick! Get on Your Bottom and Exercise!

By Jan Chait Exercise, they tell us. Take a walk. Ride a bike. It's good for your diabetes control and helps you lose weight. Exercise, says Karen Kemmis, PT, DPT, CDE at Joslin Diabetes Center in Syracuse, NY, an affiliate of the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University, lowers your blood sugar, increases muscle mass, and, because muscles burn more calories than fat, your metabolism gets boosted. The more muscle we have, the more calories we burn every minute of our lives. But what about those of us with physical limitations? Dancing is out — maybe. Jumping rope is out. All-out, hard-core Zumba is definitely out. But there are things we can do. And, no, dancing is definitely not out, she says. If you can't boogie on your feet, do it in your chair. There are DVDs especially for people with limitations, which feature chair dancing. Or, Kemmis says, it can be a regular exercise DVD, "but sit…and modify your movements." Swimming used to be impossible for me. That is, I know how to swim, and getting into a pool is easy — you can fall into a pool — but, with one leg, getting out was problematic. Until, that is, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) said public-access pools had to have lifts so people with physical limitations could get in and out of the pool. Pools subject to the law, which took effect in March 2012, include public pools, as well as those found in hotels, school districts, park districts, health clubs, gyms, spas,...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs