When it comes to personal finances, one of the best investments you can make is keeping yourself as healthy as possible. The healthier you are, the less you’ll need to spend on healthcare, and the related expenses which come with it. This can literally be thousands of dollars a year, so any simple steps you can take to improve your health should be a top priority.
For those who exercise regularly to help keep yourself healthy, you might want to make sure you vary your exercise to get the best results. A new review of past studies published in the journal Diabetologia (July 2, 2014 issue) has shown people with diabetes who do a combinations of aerobic and resistance exercise training do better at controlling their blood sugar levels than those who only choose to do only one type of exercise.
Even better, the results weren’t limited to benefiting blood sugar levels. The combined training workout also helped in controlling blood fats, increasing good cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, and controlling weight. The research evidence also showed those who were able to do under supervision ended up getting better results than those who did an exercise program without being supervised.
Researchers reviewed 14 past studies which focused on aerobic or resistance training on people with type II diabetes. The studies included more than 900 participants. They analyzed the data and found that an exercise program which combines both aerobic and resistance training was more effective than one which only focused on either aerobic or resistance exercises.
While the researchers noted more studies need to be done to confirm their findings, they concluded a combination of aerobic and resistance training can be a beneficial part to a lifestyle program seeking to manage type II diabetes. These findings can be important for all people since many people don’t even realize they have diabetes, and 50% of Americans have a chronic disease of some type.
As with most things in life, balance can be important to get the most out of what you do. If you find you’re getting your weekly exercise the exact same way day in and day out, it might be time to consider some ways to change it up to get in a more varied workout each week. The benefits of exercise are well known for a variety of ailments and just making you feel better overall. While any type of exercise is better than none at all, this study indicates that getting in a variety of different types of exercise each week can be even more beneficial than sticking to a single type.
(Photo courtesy of Marko Djukic)
Health is Wealth. I’ve been excited to start working out, just got too lazy.