By Hayley Nicholson, Exercise Physiologist, Credentialled Diabetes Educator 

Keeping physically active is a great way to manage your blood glucose levels daily as well as long term. But does that mean you need to play vigorous team sports or take up jogging? Absolutely not! In fact, any movement is better than nothing, particularly if it’s done regularly. On average, Australian adults spend more than half of their day sitting and that doesn’t include time spent sleeping. Prolonged periods of sitting increases the risk of chronic health conditions, including but not limited to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression and cancer. Not to mention that increased sitting also contributes to poor posture, muscular imbalances and weakened core muscles.  

What is incidental activity?

Incidental activity is any activity built up in small amounts over the day. For example, this may include grocery shopping, climbing the stairs, mowing, gardening, housework and playing with the grandchildren. These activities all require you to move your body and help increase your steps across the day. Incidental activities are important to increase circulation, burn energy and allows you to regularly change position. 

Easy ways to add incidental activity to your day

You can increase your incidental activity by pairing physical activities with things that you already do. That is, multi-tasking and maximizing opportunities to move more and sit less. For example, when you turn the kettle on each morning, you could do some wall push-ups or calf raises. When you take a phone call, take a gentle stroll while you chat, instead of being seated. In addition, look for opportunities to use the stairs where possible, park a little further from the shops, or do some stretches during the commercial breaks of your favourite TV shows. 

How much exercise should you do a day?

The research tells us that in addition to increasing incidental activity, people living with diabetes should also aim to accumulate 30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise on most days of the week as well as two strength training sessions per week. These are structured exercises where there is a clear purpose to improve cardiovascular fitness, strength, balance, mobility, endurance and flexibility. When working at a moderate intensity, you should be “lightly puffing”, so able to talk and walk but not able to whistle a tune. 

What’s best for blood glucose levels?

It has been shown that people living with diabetes get the best bang for their buck when managing blood glucose levels with a combination of both aerobic and muscle strengthening exercises, and a focus on breaking up long periods of sitting. That is, even if you walk or bike ride 30 minutes per day and then sit for the rest of the day, you can reverse the positive effects. Therefore, structured exercise and incidental activities are just as important as each other and should be combined for maximal health benefit. 

Find out more

If you are looking to become more physically active, you can reach out to your doctor for a referral to an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP), under a diabetes care plan. The AEP can help you increase your incidental activity across the day as well as help you work towards your individual health and fitness goals.