Post Number 300: Brief Review Of “Coaching Athletes With Diabetes”

Hi folks,

A concise introduction to the issue of diabetes for athletes and their coaches. From: http://goo.gl/tdpHR

I just found, via an RSS feed, that there is a series of books or articles available for coaches dealing with athletes who have special requirements, such as those with hernias or those undertaking religious fasting. These potentially valuable books are available at Peak Performance Online, so I purchased a copy of “Coaching Diabetic Athletes,” downloaded the pdf, and here are my initial comments on this short article, starting with some useful quotes:

“Weight loss and exercise can reverse this process [Type II Diabetes Mellitus, Type II DM] and in many cases Type II DM can be ‘cured’.”

“Management in athletes. The priority is to limit the impact of short-term symptoms and long-term complications. Alongside medications such as insulin [ ] and tablets [ ], the role of exercise cannot be overstated.”

“Education is very important, not just for the individual but also family, friends and all those involved in training, coaching and therapeutics.”

“With Type I DM, the pre-exercise insulin dose needs to be reduced by 20-50%, depending on the length and intensity of the run, to enable the runner to draw on the extra glucose they need from their body. If the insulin dose is not reduced, the endurance athlete with DM runs a serious risk of developing a ‘hypo’ [glycemia].”

My opinion of the article is that it provides a good, preliminary introduction to the subject, with some good basic advice. But that is what it is. Basic! With a background in Bioenergetics, I found the article somewhat limited in scope. What is really needed are detailed instructions on nutrition in relation to training load, and an indication of how to create a personal plan, as we are all slightly different metabolically. Even if you are not diabetic, as an endurance athlete regulation of blood sugar is a challenge, let alone working with defective insulin signal transduction. If you are diabetic and an athlete, read the article, then start to truly study the subject via textbooks of Physiology and through scientific reviews of this condition, which can be found at PubMed. I would recommend that you do this whether you have a background in medicine or not. Basically, take control of your life but seek help from the experts.

-k @FitOldDog

Today’s workouts:

WorkoutPLAN Coach: Chris Hauth

Weights

Duration: 01:15:00

Description: This phase will prepare you for the final strength building phase. Following the same format as the previous phase, perform 3 sets of 12 reps on each exercise with the exception of leg press (3×15), sit-ups (3×20), and leg ext / leg curl (still 2×15). Increase your weight significantly so that the last two reps of sets 2-3 are very difficult but doable without assistance. Rest 45-60 seconds between sets.10′ jump ropeCore exercises: 2′ hold of position or 2′ of continuous repeats: Plank – Side Plank – Lunge – PushUps – Supermans – Back Extension – Abdominal Scissors1. Bench Press (chest) 2. Incline dumbbell flyes or Machine Pec Dec 3. Squats (glutes & quads) 4. Calf Raises 5. Lat – pull downs (lats) 6. Dumbbell Pullover 7. Low Row (or bent over dumbbell rows) 8. Upright Rows (shoulders) 9. Alternating Dumbbell Curls (biceps) 10. Dumbbell Kickbacks (triceps) 11. Leg Press 12. Leg Extensions 13. Leg Curls 14. Incline Situps or your choice of preferred ab work

Run

Duration: 00:20:00

Description: steady at Z2 running HR