After the age of 40, many people gain approximately 10 pounds (4.
5 kg) for every decade.
During this time, they also lose approximately 5 pounds (2.
3 kg) of muscle.
While this is concerning for the average person, it is of utmost importance for anyone who has received a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.
Controlling your weight gain and improving your muscle tone and mass, is crucial to helping people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes manage their disease.
One way to accomplish both of these goals is through weight training.
Weight training offers a myriad of benefits.
First is the obvious benefits to the muscular system.
By overloading your muscle system with more than what it is normally accustomed to, muscle fibers increase in size and number in a system which is known as hypertrophy.
Your muscle will get larger and stronger due to an increase in the contraction ability.
Improving your strength and flexibility means you will stay active longer and won't see your physical abilities diminish as is common with diabetics who have a sedentary lifestyle.
Maintaining body strength also means an individual is able to:

• maintain an active lifestyle and enjoy life more as they get older.
  
• it is also effective for overall health for people with Type 2 diabetes.
  

Even if you don't pursue weight training as a way of gaining muscle mass, at the least it will prevent you from losing some of the muscle you already have.
Keeping up your strength also helps to prevent certain conditions directly related to diabetes.
Neuropathy is one.
This condition results from a person sitting too long and not maintaining proper levels of exercise.
The nerves become damaged as a result.
Weight training also helps to improve blood circulation.
Proper body strength even helps you to deal with the mental and social stresses associated with life.
Greatest benefit: One of the greatest benefits derived from muscle mass is how it directly affects your blood sugar.
Since diabetes is an accumulation of excess sugar in the blood, anything you can do to reduce this level is beneficial to your body.
As a person's lean body mass increases, more and more sugar is removed from the blood.
The result is more manageable blood sugar control and an increase in your lean body mass can even protect against the other health challenges such as:

• high blood pressure,
• obesity,
• high cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
  

But muscle mass is even more important than just giving you more energy and leveling your blood sugar.
The more muscle you add, the more calories (kilojoules) are burned.
This goes for ingested calories and those stored as fat.
This means you lose weight faster and more efficiently than trying to starve your weight off.
For those interested in taking up weight training, it involves the same principles as starting other forms of exercise:

• moderation is the key,
• start slow, and
• work your way up.
  

Don't forget to warm up.
Always prepare your muscles for strength training with a brief warm up.
Take a walk or take part in another form of aerobic activity for 5 to 10 minutes.
Trying to lift too much weight too quickly can injure a person with diabetes by causing intense head pressure resulting in eye strain and fluctuations in blood pressure.
It can also cause your blood sugar level to drop sharply.