I've had people ask me if you should do cardiovascular exercise if you're diabetic. The official answer is yes, you should. The true answer is that yes, you should... but I don't.
Why not? Because it's kind of boring. You sit on a bike and you pedal. That's not terribly exciting. Or, you run on a treadmill. Or climb imaginary stairs that just keep going around and around and around. It's a step up to run or bike outdoors, but I still get bored. There's something about the mindless repetition that rubs me the wrong way.
But yeah, you should still do it - especially if you have diabetes. You should do it because cardio is good for your heart. And it will help burn off that fat - which, if you're a type 2 diabetic (I'm type 1), you probably have in excess. I'm not a doctor, and you should ask your doctor about this rather than trusting me. But yeah, I'm thinking that doc will tell you to do it in some form or another.
Although honestly, for me personally, I don't really think cardio is necessary.
I've gone through periods where I only lift weights and really do nothing else, and my pulse stays nice and slow (my resting pulse is usually around 48), and I don't tend to gain weight unless I really eat terribly. This is especially true when I do a lot of metabolic training. Like, if you do that kind of thing until you can finish CrossFit.com's "Fran" workout (21 95-lb thrusters/21 pullups/15 thrusters/15 pullups/9 thrusters/9 pullups) in, say, 5-6 minutes, your heart is going to be gonzo strong without any traditional cardio. You know it.
But yes. If you don't lift weights (and even sometimes if you do), you should run or bike or something. However, if it's me, I'd take the "or something" because cardio is boring. Have I mentioned that yet?
Here's some stuff to try if you're a diabetic and need more cardio, but think it's lame. (And of course, you're asking your doc if you're cleared to do this first, right?)
Boxing
All other things being equal, the fact that you have diabetes in and of itself should not keep you from doing something like boxing. (And FYI, I'm talking about working by yourself, hitting a heavy bag that hangs from the ceiling.) Hit the thing hard with padded sparring gloves for 3 minutes, rest one minute, and then repeat that combo four more times. Work up to it, and don't go too hard too fast. Boxing rules. You're done in under 20 minutes and you'll be quite tired.
Racquetball
When you play racquetball, you're not thinking about exercising. All you're thinking about is chasing that little blue ball, and before you know it an hour has passed and you're all sweaty. It's like a workout sneaks up on you without it feeling like you worked hard.
Bike tours
My family and I used to do these all the time. It's not a literal tour. It's more like a race in which nobody cares how long it takes you to finish or who finishes first. They give you a number and plan out a route, and they give you snacks and drinks and stuff. It's a cool planned day of biking with a group, at as fast or slow of a pace as you'd like. I've seen them range from 10 to 100 miles (called a "century"). But seriously, even if you're only a moderate biker, you can cover 25 miles in one of these before you think twice about it.
If you like hamster work on a treadmill, then knock yourself out. But if you're like me, try that stuff above. It'll take the irritating out of cardio and strip that weight fast.
Johnny B. Truant, AKA "The Diabetic Weightlifter," has had type 1 diabetes for 20 years and can deadlift 475 pounds. He writes his blog at [http://www.thediabeticweightlifter.com] about how diabetics can and should stop being victims of a "disease" and start taking charge, under the tagline "Don't just manage your diabetes. Kick its butt." (Only he doesn't use the word "butt.")
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