PerSpinasAdAstra
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hi all,
Just wanted to share the early results of an experiment I've been doing with walking while wearing a weighted vest in the context of maintaining stability with blood glucose control as a Type 2 following weight loss. I use the word stability rather than remission here as while I achieved the level of weight loss necessary to achieve remission (according to the science of Prof Taylor) I am still on medications. I have had medication doses reduced twice and I have a HbA1c below the pre-diabetic range but I don't know yet how I'll manage without the medications. I am being very cautions with reducing medication doses as I don't want any hassle with the doctors if I want to increase my dose again if I go off a medication and end up in the pre-diabetic HbA1c range. I'm trying to achieve blood glucose patterns as close as possible to those of a non-diabetic, to be as cautious as I can be as regards my risk of future complications, and I have decided it better to try to achieve that with medications if necessary, retaining considerable freedom with diet, rather than stopping medications entirely and managing with a very restrictive diet.
I have come to believe that muscle mass is an important component of maintaining remission/stability once it is achieved. I base this on reading up on research into the risk factors associated with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). It has been shown in several studies that low skeletal muscle mass is a risk factor for a fatty liver. It is also the case that a Type 2 diagnosis often occurs in later life and is associated with a sedentary lifestyle and being overweight. I believe that muscle mass is a factor, a possible component of the factors that determine a person's 'Personal Fat Threshold', to use the language of Prof Roy Taylor. I believe low skeletal muscle mass is a risk factor for developing Type 2. I believe that building and maintaining muscle may be very useful in maintaining long-term 'stability' with my condition, even if I never achieve true 'remission' by stopping my medications.
A weighted vest is exactly what it sounds like - a vest with weights in it. There are various types at various price points. They are made to be worn while exercising - walking or running for example - in order to increase the intensity of the exercise. They make every step a person takes a little more difficult and so raise heart rate and make an exercise better as a means to improve aerobic fitness. My GP advised that walking while wearing a weighted vest might be a good way to get fitter while walking - a way to get fit enough to start running instead of walking if that's what I wanted to do. I read up on weighted vests and decided this might also be a good way to build muscle in my legs and shoulders, a good way to build and maintain skeletal muscle mass. I bought an expensive but discreet vest which can hold up to 20lbs of weights in 40 or so little pockets sewn into the vest. It's like a waistcoat that I can wear under the hoodie or jacket I usually wear while I go walking. The one I bought is called the Hyperwear 'Hyper Vest Elite'. The price of it is insane but I'm vain and couldn't see myself wearing a much cheaper but much less discreet type of vest every day on my evening walk. A casual observer would hardly notice that I was wearing it, so I don't feel self-conscious wearing it under my hoodie or jacket. Vests that are bulky and are not designed to be discreet are quite affordable.
I've been using it almost daily for the past few months and the effect of wearing it while walking has been very significant. I started with 10lbs on the vest, using it three or four days per week while walking for around 30 minutes per day. Wearing it caused me to become somewhat out-of-breath as I walked uphill - it's not a huge amount of weight but carrying 10 extra pounds for 30 minutes is something you definitely do feel and it raises your heartrate and breathing rate. I'm currently wearing 12.5 lbs on the vest and wearing it while walking once or twice per day, up to seven days per week. I intend to increase the weight in stages until I'm able to wear the full 20 lbs every time I go for a walk.
I no longer get out-of-breath during a walk while wearing it, even after a brisk walk of up to an hour. My fitness has definitely improved, no question about it. The most important change though, the reason for this post, is that the muscles in my legs have increased in size noticeably. I also no longer feel the weight of it hanging from my shoulders to be uncomfortable, suggesting that I have build some upper-body muscle. It's become easy to walk while wearing the extra weight. I have no good way to prove it but it seems that walking daily while wearing a weighted vest may be a very good and convenient way to build and maintain muscle mass, which might possibly be important in the context of maintaining stability with blood glucose control as a person gets older. If anyone out there struggles with the monotony of resistance training, as I do, finds it hard to find the time to lift weights regularly to build and maintain muscle, a weighted vest might be exactly the thing to get the job done while enjoying the sights and sounds of a nice evening wall.
I do own a smart bathroom weighing scale which can estimate muscle mass, though not accurately. Once I get to 20lbs on the vest for a couple of months and if I get to a body weight where I can compare muscle mass data from before I started wearing the vest to after I started wearing it I'll post the data. Those scales are not accurate, but they are representative and so I may be able to quantify, roughly, how much muscle mass can be grown and maintained by walking while wearing a weighted vest.
Just wanted to share the early results of an experiment I've been doing with walking while wearing a weighted vest in the context of maintaining stability with blood glucose control as a Type 2 following weight loss. I use the word stability rather than remission here as while I achieved the level of weight loss necessary to achieve remission (according to the science of Prof Taylor) I am still on medications. I have had medication doses reduced twice and I have a HbA1c below the pre-diabetic range but I don't know yet how I'll manage without the medications. I am being very cautions with reducing medication doses as I don't want any hassle with the doctors if I want to increase my dose again if I go off a medication and end up in the pre-diabetic HbA1c range. I'm trying to achieve blood glucose patterns as close as possible to those of a non-diabetic, to be as cautious as I can be as regards my risk of future complications, and I have decided it better to try to achieve that with medications if necessary, retaining considerable freedom with diet, rather than stopping medications entirely and managing with a very restrictive diet.
I have come to believe that muscle mass is an important component of maintaining remission/stability once it is achieved. I base this on reading up on research into the risk factors associated with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). It has been shown in several studies that low skeletal muscle mass is a risk factor for a fatty liver. It is also the case that a Type 2 diagnosis often occurs in later life and is associated with a sedentary lifestyle and being overweight. I believe that muscle mass is a factor, a possible component of the factors that determine a person's 'Personal Fat Threshold', to use the language of Prof Roy Taylor. I believe low skeletal muscle mass is a risk factor for developing Type 2. I believe that building and maintaining muscle may be very useful in maintaining long-term 'stability' with my condition, even if I never achieve true 'remission' by stopping my medications.
A weighted vest is exactly what it sounds like - a vest with weights in it. There are various types at various price points. They are made to be worn while exercising - walking or running for example - in order to increase the intensity of the exercise. They make every step a person takes a little more difficult and so raise heart rate and make an exercise better as a means to improve aerobic fitness. My GP advised that walking while wearing a weighted vest might be a good way to get fitter while walking - a way to get fit enough to start running instead of walking if that's what I wanted to do. I read up on weighted vests and decided this might also be a good way to build muscle in my legs and shoulders, a good way to build and maintain skeletal muscle mass. I bought an expensive but discreet vest which can hold up to 20lbs of weights in 40 or so little pockets sewn into the vest. It's like a waistcoat that I can wear under the hoodie or jacket I usually wear while I go walking. The one I bought is called the Hyperwear 'Hyper Vest Elite'. The price of it is insane but I'm vain and couldn't see myself wearing a much cheaper but much less discreet type of vest every day on my evening walk. A casual observer would hardly notice that I was wearing it, so I don't feel self-conscious wearing it under my hoodie or jacket. Vests that are bulky and are not designed to be discreet are quite affordable.
I've been using it almost daily for the past few months and the effect of wearing it while walking has been very significant. I started with 10lbs on the vest, using it three or four days per week while walking for around 30 minutes per day. Wearing it caused me to become somewhat out-of-breath as I walked uphill - it's not a huge amount of weight but carrying 10 extra pounds for 30 minutes is something you definitely do feel and it raises your heartrate and breathing rate. I'm currently wearing 12.5 lbs on the vest and wearing it while walking once or twice per day, up to seven days per week. I intend to increase the weight in stages until I'm able to wear the full 20 lbs every time I go for a walk.
I no longer get out-of-breath during a walk while wearing it, even after a brisk walk of up to an hour. My fitness has definitely improved, no question about it. The most important change though, the reason for this post, is that the muscles in my legs have increased in size noticeably. I also no longer feel the weight of it hanging from my shoulders to be uncomfortable, suggesting that I have build some upper-body muscle. It's become easy to walk while wearing the extra weight. I have no good way to prove it but it seems that walking daily while wearing a weighted vest may be a very good and convenient way to build and maintain muscle mass, which might possibly be important in the context of maintaining stability with blood glucose control as a person gets older. If anyone out there struggles with the monotony of resistance training, as I do, finds it hard to find the time to lift weights regularly to build and maintain muscle, a weighted vest might be exactly the thing to get the job done while enjoying the sights and sounds of a nice evening wall.
I do own a smart bathroom weighing scale which can estimate muscle mass, though not accurately. Once I get to 20lbs on the vest for a couple of months and if I get to a body weight where I can compare muscle mass data from before I started wearing the vest to after I started wearing it I'll post the data. Those scales are not accurate, but they are representative and so I may be able to quantify, roughly, how much muscle mass can be grown and maintained by walking while wearing a weighted vest.