Diabetes patients advised to lift weights before doing cardio

New research from Canada has recommended that type 1 diabetes patients doing work-outs should start with lifting weights before they do any cardio exercise to help them maintain better control of their blood sugar levels.
Ensuring they do weights first before cardio work in the gym will mean they have a better chance of preventing blood sugar falling too much, while still getting the benefits of aerobic exercise.
The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, used a dozen fit type 1 diabetics with an average age of 32 who were already running and lifting weights at least three times each week. They undertook a couple of exercise sessions at least five days apart, with the first involving 45 minutes of treadmill work before another 45 minutes of weight lifting, while the other session reversed the order of exercise.
With researchers monitoring blood sugar levels prior to, during and post exercise, it was found that when participants did the aerobic exercise first, they saw their blood sugar levels fall and stay lower for the duration of the workout than when they did the weight lifting first and then went on the treadmill. In addition, the weight lifting was linked with less severe drops in blood sugar after exercise, while any lowering that did result tended to last for less time.