Exercise Types

Before creating your exercise program, let's review some fundamentals of exercise. Exercise is typically divided into two categories: aerobic and anaerobic. The word aerobic simply means "with oxygen." Aerobic activities last longer than two minutes and use energy sources produced with the aid of oxygen. Some examples of aerobic exercise are cycling, running, and swimming. Anaerobic means "without oxygen.” Anaerobic activities last less than two minutes and rely on energy that is immediately available and not dependent on oxygen, such as glucose present in the blood. Examples of anaerobic exercises are sprinting and weightlifting.

Aerobic activity over a longer period increases fat metabolism and optimizes the body's use of glucose (Brooks and Mercer 1994). That is, during aerobic training the body switches to using energy derived from fat during low- to moderate-intensity exercise and more effectively utilizes glucose during higher-intensity activities. Anaerobic training such as weightlifting can increase muscle mass, which increases glucose utilization and results in enhanced blood sugar control (Devlin 1992).

Weight training is one type of exercise that enhances blood sugar control through an increase in glucose utilization.