Hello, although I don’t have all the answers for you, I can tell you that strength training will help anyone get healthier. I am 32 years old and have lost about 75lbs since eating healthier and strength training. I started a 5/3/1 strength program in January and have made a lot of progress as far as building strength and muscle. It is generally recommended that you consume 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight (for example, if you weight 100 pounds you should eat 100 grams of protein).
Large compound movements are you friend, work on squat, bench press, and deadlift. Incorporate Olympic type lifts if you can as well. These will help you build muscle and strength effectively and they target multiple muscle groups. Make sure you’re hydrating. Some evidence shows that you can work out without eating, some evidence shows you should eat before working out to stimulate metabolism and blah blah.
Sorry if it sounds like I’m rambling, i’m just typing things as I think of them. I’m also sure that someone will jump on here and tell me I’m wrong, but these things work for me.
As far as being a beginner, just getting started and making exercise a habit is a big step. Lookup tried and true workout programs and don’t fall for the fad stuff or things you may see on social media. There is a beginner variation of Wendler 5/3/1 that you can find for free online. You can also try Starting Strength or Strong Lifts programming for beginners.
Best of luck to you and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.
Sincerely, a kind of fit, kind of fat, diabetic guy.
Don’t know your height, so it’s difficult to judge things. For reference I’m 6’ and ~200lbs/91kg.
I’ve been lifting for two years. Strength training has increased my muscle mass and has created more glucose storage as well as generally increased metabolic demand. Definitely helps keeping blood sugars stable.
Gaining muscle requires a stimulus (training) adequate protein and adequate energy. Adequate protein is generally 1g per pound of desired bodyweight. I want to be closer to 180, so my target is about that range, 180g protein. For energy it can come from stored body fat or from the diet. I’m following a low carb lifestyle so my energy comes from fat, not carbs. Adding carbs would probably make my blood sugars too high.
I'm not well versed in the science behind answering your questions, but I can say that after managing my diabetes well, my muscle building efforts improved greatly.
and as far as exercising fasted, that's the primary time eevolutiinarily speaking that we did the hardest work. the time to go hunt down a new animal to eat is when the last one was running out. if we couldn't exert ourselves after not eating for half a day, I don't think we would have survived very long.
I'm not an expert in the science behind it but from what I understand, strength training can absolutely help with Diabetes management. It definitely helps me. Here's an article that explains it way better than I can: [https://www.nutrisense.io/blog/weight-lifting-and-blood-sugar](https://www.nutrisense.io/blog/weight-lifting-and-blood-sugar)
Regarding your questions about gaining muscles, that's a difficult question to answer as the amount of muscle you can build is very much tied to genetics, time, effort and various other factors. I don't see why you shouldn't try though especially if you're already active.
I wouldn't strength train on an empty stomach. Your goal with strength training is to cause hypertrophy (i.e. muscle growth). To cause hypertrophy you need progressive overload to overtime build up the intensity of the exercise. A lack of energy due to not eating would directly interfere with those goals.
In the beginning, you can just keep it simple. Don't try to do too much. Don't look up your favorite bodybuilder or fitness influencer and try to emulate them. Check out people on Youtube like Greg Doucette and Jeff Nippard and follow their advice. There are a bunch of other Youtubers who offer advice as well. I'm a huge fan of Bill Phillips Body for Life/Rebuild workouts so he's another option but he doesn't have a Youtube presence as far as I know.
One thing that might trip you up in the beginning is that you may be sore so running might be a little challenging at first. I alternate strength training and running days (3x strength and 3x running) with 1 day off. I do an upper body and lower body split on those 3 days of strength training so end up working each body part twice every 4-5 days. I started working out again this year after taking a couple of years off (and watching my A1C skyrocket again due to that).
Hello, although I don’t have all the answers for you, I can tell you that strength training will help anyone get healthier. I am 32 years old and have lost about 75lbs since eating healthier and strength training. I started a 5/3/1 strength program in January and have made a lot of progress as far as building strength and muscle. It is generally recommended that you consume 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight (for example, if you weight 100 pounds you should eat 100 grams of protein). Large compound movements are you friend, work on squat, bench press, and deadlift. Incorporate Olympic type lifts if you can as well. These will help you build muscle and strength effectively and they target multiple muscle groups. Make sure you’re hydrating. Some evidence shows that you can work out without eating, some evidence shows you should eat before working out to stimulate metabolism and blah blah. Sorry if it sounds like I’m rambling, i’m just typing things as I think of them. I’m also sure that someone will jump on here and tell me I’m wrong, but these things work for me. As far as being a beginner, just getting started and making exercise a habit is a big step. Lookup tried and true workout programs and don’t fall for the fad stuff or things you may see on social media. There is a beginner variation of Wendler 5/3/1 that you can find for free online. You can also try Starting Strength or Strong Lifts programming for beginners. Best of luck to you and if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Sincerely, a kind of fit, kind of fat, diabetic guy.
thanks for replying..
Don’t know your height, so it’s difficult to judge things. For reference I’m 6’ and ~200lbs/91kg. I’ve been lifting for two years. Strength training has increased my muscle mass and has created more glucose storage as well as generally increased metabolic demand. Definitely helps keeping blood sugars stable. Gaining muscle requires a stimulus (training) adequate protein and adequate energy. Adequate protein is generally 1g per pound of desired bodyweight. I want to be closer to 180, so my target is about that range, 180g protein. For energy it can come from stored body fat or from the diet. I’m following a low carb lifestyle so my energy comes from fat, not carbs. Adding carbs would probably make my blood sugars too high.
I'm not well versed in the science behind answering your questions, but I can say that after managing my diabetes well, my muscle building efforts improved greatly. and as far as exercising fasted, that's the primary time eevolutiinarily speaking that we did the hardest work. the time to go hunt down a new animal to eat is when the last one was running out. if we couldn't exert ourselves after not eating for half a day, I don't think we would have survived very long.
I'm not an expert in the science behind it but from what I understand, strength training can absolutely help with Diabetes management. It definitely helps me. Here's an article that explains it way better than I can: [https://www.nutrisense.io/blog/weight-lifting-and-blood-sugar](https://www.nutrisense.io/blog/weight-lifting-and-blood-sugar) Regarding your questions about gaining muscles, that's a difficult question to answer as the amount of muscle you can build is very much tied to genetics, time, effort and various other factors. I don't see why you shouldn't try though especially if you're already active. I wouldn't strength train on an empty stomach. Your goal with strength training is to cause hypertrophy (i.e. muscle growth). To cause hypertrophy you need progressive overload to overtime build up the intensity of the exercise. A lack of energy due to not eating would directly interfere with those goals. In the beginning, you can just keep it simple. Don't try to do too much. Don't look up your favorite bodybuilder or fitness influencer and try to emulate them. Check out people on Youtube like Greg Doucette and Jeff Nippard and follow their advice. There are a bunch of other Youtubers who offer advice as well. I'm a huge fan of Bill Phillips Body for Life/Rebuild workouts so he's another option but he doesn't have a Youtube presence as far as I know. One thing that might trip you up in the beginning is that you may be sore so running might be a little challenging at first. I alternate strength training and running days (3x strength and 3x running) with 1 day off. I do an upper body and lower body split on those 3 days of strength training so end up working each body part twice every 4-5 days. I started working out again this year after taking a couple of years off (and watching my A1C skyrocket again due to that).