Exercise plays a key role in diabetes management. If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you will likely work with a local endocrinologist and family physician. You may also work with a local personal trainer, kinesiologist and registered dietitian. A local personal trainer is a health and wellness provider who is trained in helping people manage health conditions and improve their quality of life through exercise.

Some of the potential benefits of working with a local personal trainer if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes include lowering blood glucose levels, lowering blood pressure, sodium reduction, losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight, understanding the glycemic index, preventing diabetes-related complications such as diabetic neuropathy, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, kidney problems and heart disease. Your local personal trainer can help you do exercises like psoas strength training, hamstring exercises, stomach exercises and cardio exercises. If you want to learn more about diabetic exercise and how a local personal trainer can help you manage type 1 or type 2 diabetes, talk to your local family physician, endocrinologist or registered dietitian.

This is another exercise that you can do anywhere to come down onto the mat, onto her hands and knees. What she’s going to do is go down on her elbows, and she’s going to lift up into a plank position, so you want to lift up, you want to engage your core. You don’t want to sag down in the hips, you want to stay up nice and strong, protect that lower back.

As you’re engaged, you want to start by holding this 30 seconds, if you can go longer, you want to push yourself all the way through to a minute, make sure that you breathe, relax everything else. You’re going to get a nice burn in through the stomach.

Keep holding, you’re going to do this three times, and remember, a qualified personal trainer can help you attain the goals you want and keep you nice and motivated.

Lower abdomen lifts are a great exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime.  

So this exercise I'm going to get Linda to lift her legs all the way up, engaging the lower abs. I'm going to get her to lift her hips straight up and back down.  

Now this exercise you can do 10 to 15 reps three times. Make sure that you're not holding your breath and that you're not swinging your legs too much.

You want to keep the legs lifting straight up from the hips, breathing out as you come up and this is really going to help tone up that lower abdominal area with a little hard work and dedication. Make sure you contact a qualified personal trainer and they'll help you get there.