Do you have type 2 diabetes, and need methods for regulating your blood sugar and promoting your overall health? Then why not try Metabolic Fit, a training program developed specially for you by EGYM?

Physical activity and sport are an important part of holistic treatment for type 2 diabetes. Combined strength and endurance training, in particular, is considered an effective method for actively counteracting insulin resistance. Our tailored training program on EGYM workout equipment is based on science and custom-designed to meet your specific needs.
 

Type 2 Diabetes at a Glance

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that causes increased blood sugar levels. This is due to insulin resistance, meaning the cells do not respond well to insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas which ensures that, for example, muscles or the liver can absorb sugar from the bloodstream.

If the insulin is ineffective, or if the body’s cells do not react well to the insulin, blood sugar levels remain high. This can cause long-term damage to blood vessels, nerves, and organs. There may be no symptoms to begin with, or the symptoms may be very unspecific, including tiredness, increased susceptibility to infections, frequent urination, dry and itchy skin, or increased thirst. Because of this, type 2 diabetes is often diagnosed during routine check ups.

Type 2 diabetes can lead to serious complications, such as stroke, heart attack, nephropathy (kidney damage), neuropathy (nerve damage), or retinopathy (damage to the retina).
 

Benefits of Strength and Endurance Training for Type 2 Diabetes

There are now over seven million diabetes patients in Germany, and 95% of them have type 2 diabetes. In addition to any genetic predisposition, your lifestyle is the main factor that determines whether you get type 2 diabetes, and how the disease progresses. Excess weight and lack of exercise play right into the hands of the disease. If you regularly eat food containing too much fat and sugar, your weight increases, which in turn affects your physical fitness. Training regularly is therefore extremely important for your health.

Strength and endurance training is one of your best options. It has a positive effect on your sugar metabolism and increases insulin sensitivity in your cells, which means that training dramatically lowers your blood sugar levels. Increased physical activity helps to restore the interrupted flow of glucose from the blood into the muscle cells. Regular training can help to lower your HbA1c levels, which indicate your average blood sugar level over time. Strength and endurance training helps increase muscle activity and muscle mass, and breaks down excess fat. It increases the number of calories you burn and your basal metabolic rate improves simultaneously with muscle growth.

In addition, systematic strength and endurance training can lower blood pressure, cholesterol and other health factors, strengthen the immune system, improve sleep, increase well-being, promote general health, and reduce the risk of complications such as vascular disorders.
 

Whole Body Strength Endurance Training on the EGYM Circuit

Your training achievements will be significantly influenced by how often and how intensively you train, what type of training you do, and which machines you use. With Metabolic Fit, we have put together a precisely targeted training program for you. As with all EGYM training programs, our Metabolic Fit program – specifically developed for people with type 2 diabetes – is based on training with our EGYM strength machines. This modern approach to training optimally combines endurance and strength training. You therefore get the benefits of both endurance and strength training when it comes to dealing with type 2 diabetes.

Particularly if you are a type 2 diabetic who has never done endurance training before, or if you have done no regular training, it is important to start slowly and not overextend yourself. Which is why this training program starts very gently, and then increases in intensity quite slowly. 18 training sessions for strength endurance are followed by six muscle building sessions to maintain your progress.

Previously, this type of custom-designed training schedule was only available for those who could afford 1:1 supervision by a personal trainer. In contrast, training on EGYM machines is fully automated, so that you can train on your own, in accordance with your individual intensity requirements. The regular and automatic strength tests, the basis of every EGYM training program, guarantee the right amount of exertion for each session. Not only that, consistent training sessions using lighter weights are better for your blood pressure.

Another important feature for ensuring that your training session is effective is a concept known as periodisation. This means that the training session is divided into four different phases, one after the other. Different training methods are used in each phase, with different training stimuli to increase the effect of your training session.
 

The Four Phases in the Metabolic Fit Training Program Are as Follows:

Phase 1: Activation (negative)

Activates your metabolism

The negative training method is perfectly suited to slowly introducing you to strength training. For example, exertion levels during negative training are perceived as lower than those during regular training. In addition, your muscles will be gently acclimatised to strength training through the increased weight in the eccentric phase (lowering).

Phase 2: Metabolism (regular)

Speeding up the metabolism

Strength endurance training using the regular method allows your muscles to use plenty of energy in a short amount of time. The average weight and the high number of repetitions creates a metabolic load that trains and speeds up your metabolism. The increased need for calories causes sugar to flow out of your blood and into your muscles. The result is that your muscles become sensitive to insulin once more!

Phase 3: Fat Burn (negative)

Increased fat burn

In the third phase, we return to a negative method. However, there is a significant increase in intensity during this phase. The heavier weights and increased number of repetitions will challenge you and get your metabolism going. The result is obvious: your body will start burning more fat. You are on the path to a healthy metabolism.

Phase 4: Muscle building (regular)

Healthy muscle building

In the final phase, we will once again use the regular training method. The goal is to use heavier weights and a slightly lower number of repetitions to encourage muscle building. Because every additional kilo of muscle mass is good for your metabolism. The more muscles you have, the more sugar you can burn, even when you’re resting!
 

Scientifically Proven Training Program for Regulating Blood Sugar Levels

Our Metabolic Fit program is based on a nationwide study across Germany, carried out in cooperation with Leipzig University and EGYM partner clubs between November 2016 and April 2017. The goal was to research how effective a digitally supported strength training program, which had already proven effective in experimental studies, might be for people with type 2 diabetes who train in normal fitness and health facilities.

The main goal of the study was to lower HbA1c values. The HbA1c value reflects blood sugar values over time and is used to measure the severity of the disease. Test subjects’ HbA1c values were measured by a doctor. All test subjects had a value equal to or higher than 6.9 (average: 7.6), and were therefore considered diabetic.

The result of the study was a positive influence on all health parameters taken into consideration:

• Blood sugar values over time: HbA1c -10% (***)
• Functional tests: strength +39% (*), walking test +35% (*), sit/stand test +32% (***)
• Measurements: weight -3kg (*), waist -5cm (***), hips -3cm (*)
• Blood pressure: systolic -3%, diastolic -6% (*)

Statistical significance p < 0.05 (*) / 0.005 (**) / 0.0005 (***)

We developed our Metabolic Fit program based on insights gained in our Diabetes study. If you suffer from type 2 diabetes, we can now offer you an effective, scientifically validated training program, proven to help reduce blood sugar levels over time and to improve your overall health. You can find more information on the results of the study here: EGYM’s diabetes training program shows positive results.
 

Training Tips for People with Type 2 Diabetes

There are two important things to remember when doing strength endurance training as a person with type 2 diabetes:

• Check your blood sugar frequently and avoid hypoglycaemia: when exercising, your muscles require a lot of energy. This can cause your blood sugar to drop quickly. How quickly is different for each person. We therefore recommend that you measure your blood sugar before, during, and after training and note the results. This will help you to learn how your body reacts to exercise.
• Keep fast and slow carbohydrates close to hand when in the club: during longer exercise sessions, we recommend a combination of fast and slow carbs to raise your blood sugar and keep it more or less stable. Fast carbohydrates include, for example, glucose, while slow carbohydrates can be found, for example, in muesli bars. People with diabetes who are susceptible to low blood sugar should always bring a small emergency ration of fast carbohydrates with them while they train.