Adding Strength Work
Reviewed by CDE Mehandi Sharma · Updated
Strength training is the most commonly skipped part of activity advice, and in prediabetes it earns its place for a specific reason.
Muscle is the main destination for glucose in your body. The more muscle you have, and the more regularly you use it, the more places there are for glucose to go — and trained muscle is more insulin-sensitive than untrained muscle.
This is a separate benefit from the energy you burn during the session, which is why strength work helps even if your weight does not change.
It matters particularly for Indians. At the same BMI, South Asians tend to carry less muscle and more fat than Europeans, so there is often more to gain here than the general advice implies.
The recommendation is twice a week, and no gym is required.
A workable starting set at home: sit-to-stands from a chair, wall push-ups, standing calf raises, and a plank held on the knees. Two sets of eight to twelve of each. When something becomes easy, add repetitions or slow the movement down rather than seeking heavier weights.
Household work counts more than people credit — carrying water, lifting sacks of atta, scrubbing floors are all loaded work.
Leave a day between sessions, and stop if something hurts in a joint rather than feeling worked in a muscle.