Walking Faster Improves Diabetes Control

A study of overweight individuals with type 2 diabetes shows that people get can get more out of their daily walks by picking up the pace, which can improve cardiovascular and blood sugar control.

Among eight adults with type 2 diabetes already walking a little more than the recommended 10,000 steps per day, a "Pick Up the Pace" program increased walking speeds, and therefore intensity of walking, to a level that elicited significant improvements in heart and respiratory fitness over 12 weeks.

"The program used simple tools (pedometer and stopwatch) and a simple message to pick up the pace," note Steven T. Johnson of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and colleagues in the journal Diabetes Care.

In the study, participants determined their normal walking pace by counting steps taken in a 10-minute walk using a pedometer. This information was used to establish a "training cadence" that was 10 percent above their usual pace.

For example, if someone usually walked 90 steps in a minute, they increased the pace to 100 steps per minute. They walked at their training pace for 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week for 12 weeks.

The Pick Up the Pace program led to significant improvements in subject's heart rate response to exercise and decreases in their blood sugar levels.

Source: Diabetes In Control: Diabetes Care, July 2006