To review I climb stairs two at a time for several minutes after breakfast and again after dinner. I do anywhere from 6 flights if I am in a hurry on up to 14 flights of stairs two at a time. Not only does the glucose meter show the benefits, I can also FEEL IT.
Of all the posts I have ever done, I believe IF ONE IS PHYSICALLY ABLE or willing to work up to being physically able to begin a stair climbing routine after your morning breakfast and again within the first hour after eating your evening meal, you will be rewarded with better health.
Most type 2 diabetics experience blood glucose level spikes after any major meal. The worst possible source of action is to sit back in your recliner and watch TV or worse yet, take a nap after eating.
As mentioned in my first post, check with your doctor first and make him or her aware that you want to improve your health, lower your A1C and become more physically active. Make sure you monitor your BG levels BEFORE and then again 45 mins AFTER breakfast and dinner and then do the stair climbing routine (I do TWO STEPS at a time) and wait 15-30 minutes and take your BG reading again. Keep a record of this to show your doctor and for your own use. My overall core strength and leg strength has improved in the short time I have been doing this twice a day.
**FOOTNOTE** on June 25/2011 Chris Loralz climbed Three Logan Square a 55 story building 55 times in 11 hours and 57 mins. Amazing feat totaling 33,000 feet. You can have your own amazing feat by lowering your A1C by getting clearance from your doctor first and then embarking on a stair climbing routine and sticking to it and watching your A1C go DOWN!
I will post a link HERE and will put excerpts from an article I read this morning:
http://www.peakhealthadvocate.com/2498/lower-blood-sugar-from-six-minutes-of-climbing-stairs/
EXCERPT:
There’s nothing good about elevated blood sugar levels. They can increase your risk for obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. And even if you don’t suffer from any of these conditions presently, when your blood sugar is at its peak, it can also spell trouble.
In fact, research has shown that your greatest risk for cardiovascular problems occurs right after you eat (called postprandial hyperglycemia).[1]
Researchers recruited eight middle-aged men with impaired glucose tolerance, or insulin resistance (a pre-diabetic state), to participate in the study. All eight men performed three tests each.
For the first test, they ate lunch at noon, and then rested for two hours. After the rest period, the participants were tested to see what “stepping rate” correlated to moderate intensity (what they could do without feeling overly strained).
On the second visit, they ate lunch at noon, rested for 90 minutes, and then were asked to climb a flight stairs that contained 21 steps. They did 10 to 12 sets of stairs, with one full set consisting of ascending and descending. They did this without resting between sets.
On the third visit, they ate lunch and rested for 90 minutes, then were asked to walk on a flat 650-meter course (just shy of half a mile). They walked at a brisk, but not fast pace. Both forms of exercise took about six minutes each.
All participants had blood drawn to test blood glucose and blood insulin levels. Blood was checked three times during each visit: 90 minutes after eating and before exercise, and then again 15 and 30 minutes later (after the exercise).
Researchers found that blood glucose levels after lunch were virtually the same across participants. However, 15 minutes later (after exercise) glucose levels after the stair exercise were significantly lower than after walking — 8.7 mmol/L for stairs versus 10.3 mmol/L for walking.
Levels were found to continue to decrease when researchers tested the blood 30 minutes after eating, with glucose levels dropping to 7.3 mmol/L after doing the stairs, but to just 8.8 mmol/L after walking.
In other words, when participants simply walked, it took them twice as long to see the same reduction in blood sugar levels as it took when they did the stairs.
When it came to insulin levels, it was a similar story. Insulin levels were virtually the same immediately after lunch, but 15 minutes later, those doing the stairs saw a drop of 16 points (66 µU/mL to 50 µU/mL), compared to a mere 4-point drop after walking (71 µU/mL to 67 µU/mL).
But at the 30-minute mark, after taking the stairs, levels dropped an additional 5 points (to 45 µU/mL), while after walking, levels dropped 8 points (to 59 µU/mL). When all is said and done, that’s a whopping 14-point difference between the stairs and walking!
Researchers were thrilled with these findings. To learn that just six minutes of stair climbing at a moderate pace could effectively lower blood glucose and insulin levels could motivate sedentary individuals to start controlling their blood sugar levels through exercise.
…To Lower Blood Sugar Levels
What could be easier or more effective? Take this advice to heart and start using it immediately. Set aside 5 to 10 minutes within 90 minutes of eating and simply walk up and down the stairs.
To duplicate the study, you’ll want a flight of stairs that contains at least 20 steps and do 10 to 12 sets (up and down equals one set). If the staircase you’re using has just 10 steps, do 20 to 24 sets. If it has 30 steps, do 7 to 8 sets. You get the idea.
If balance or steadiness is an issue, make sure to hold on to the railing. Walk at a pace that is challenging but not too strenuous.
By doing this small part to reduce your blood sugar levels, you are taking huge strides in protecting your cardiovascular health and overall well-being.
Want another link on stair climbing? OKAY, here it is:
Want another link on stair climbing? OKAY, here it is:
Use the upstairs loo
Trot up the escalator rather than riding it, get out of a lift one floor early or make a point of using the upstairs loo. Each two-minute stair climb burns 21 calories, so you could be burning up to 500 in a typical week. That's the same sort of burn you'd get from a strenuous exercise class.
The small additional challenge to your leg muscles, lungs and heart could have a massive impact on your long-term health. One Harvard study found that men who climbed more than 70 flights of stairs a week had 18 per cent lower risk of premature death than those who climbed fewer than 20 flights a week
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