QA Forum

Question & Answer

We are discussing Living with Diabetes
With Angela Blair, Kristen Hazelwood and the Department of Health and Ageing

Question:
I am 70 years old and have Type 2 Diabetes. My Doctor has suggested that I try to include some physical activity into my life to help manage my diabetes. However, I find this really difficult as I have arthritis in both knees and find walking very painful. Is there anything thing I can do to exercise that won’t be so hard on my knees but will help with managing my diabetes?

Answer:
Angela - Physical activity can play a really important role in helping you to manage your diabetes. Often, your doctor will recommend that you try to be more active and suggest you walk more. Unfortunately, for people such as you, walking is not an easy, pain free option. Don’t despair! There are plenty of exercise options that are easy on the knees, low impact and/or don’t require you to use your lower limbs at all.

First things first, there are some simple exercises you can do from the comfort of your chair. Most of these exercises involve your upper body and arms rather than your legs. You can try lifting small weights or cans of food, pushing weights above your head or performing punching movements to get your heart rate up. You may also like to try lifting alternate legs off the ground or doing small calf rises from your seat. Be creative and think of things you can do to move all from the comfort of your chair!

Secondly, try forms of exercise that don’t place too much pressure on your knees or joints. You could try cycling or water based exercise. Cycling is very good for you, it can raise your heart rate sufficiently to allow you to gain a health benefit and most importantly, it isn’t too hard on the knees. Water based exercise is also a very low impact form of exercise. As water is very buoyant, it helps to reduce the pressure or loads going through your joints. Activities such as walking, bending and squatting are much easier to do in water and much friendlier on your joints!

Thirdly, you might also like to consider taking up a resistance or weight lifting program. Resistance training is a very good at improving your diabetes management. It greatly helps to improve your body’s insulin sensitivity and overall blood glucose control. Plus, you can tailor the types of exercises you do around your strengths and weaknesses.

Things you might like to try in regards to resistance training include the use of a Thera-Band or elasticised resistance band. They are easy to handle, very versatile and portable and don’t cost much! You can use the bands to perform a multitude of resistance activities including both upper and lower body activities such as pushing and pulling type movements which can be tailored towards your physical needs.

Lastly, just aim to be more active in as many ways as you can. Think outside of the box and be creative. If you can only manage to do 5 or ten minutes with out pain, than that’s a good place to start. Even small changes in your physical activity levels can have tremendous health benefits!

If you would like more information on chair based exercises, thera-bands or a any other information contained in this response, please call Diabetes Australia-NSW on 1300 136 588 or speak to your local exercise physiologist, physiotherapist of exercise professional.

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