3 Minutes Of Exercise Can Help Sedentary People With Diabetes

For diabetic patients who tend to sit throughout the day, just three minutes of light exercise can provide numerous health benefits, according to a new study published in Diabetes Care.

During the study, researchers had two dozen overweight adults with diabetes go through multiple light exercises like walking, squatting or leg raises in between bouts of sitting. The results showed lower blood levels of sugar, insulin and the protein c-peptide - all of which can become elevated if diabetes is left uncontrolled.

“Humans are designed to move,” said Paddy Dempsey, lead author of the study. “Our biological systems function optimally when we are regularly moving and physically active. The prolonged periods of sitting that now characterize much of our day to day lives – especially our working lives – are missed opportunities for healthy movement.”

Gym not needed

Researchers wanted to examine specific exercises that could be conducted easily and without the need for a gym membership or even weights. Compared to sitting alone, not only did quick episodes of walking and resistance exercises show multiple health benefits, but also resistance exercises significantly lowered triglycerides in the blood.

Future studies will need to be conducted to examine the potential long-term benefits of brief bouts of exercise, but researchers believe their findings are an important reminder that everybody should try to avoid long periods of sitting.

“The good news is you can break up your sitting with a short walk or doing resistance exercises,” said Gibbs. “So, if you can’t leave your desk or don’t want to leave your TV show, you can do some squats, calf raises, etc. in place.”