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Trainer Garett Reid recommends a simple strength workout for people with diabetes who are beginning to exercise, with the early focus on learning how their blood sugar responds rather than building muscle. The routine is paired with checks before exercise, immediately afterward and two to four hours later; it is not presented as a guarantee of safety for every person.
Trainer Garett Reid recommends a beginner strength-training routine for people living with diabetes, saying the first goal should be to learn how their body and blood sugar respond to exercise, not to build muscle. The guidance, reported by Fit&Well, calls for low-intensity sessions and blood sugar checks before a workout, immediately afterward and again two to four hours later; it does not establish that the routine is safe for everyone.
Reid, a trainer with wellness app BetterMe: Health Coaching, says he often starts clients with a repeatable, full-body strength routine. He recommends beginning with two sets of eight to 12 repetitions per exercise, resting 90 seconds between sets and finishing each set with the sense that three or four more repetitions would still be possible. The suggested schedule is two to three sessions a week for four weeks.
The routine is designed to keep the initial effort manageable while clients observe their response. It includes squats, glute bridges, wall push-ups, banded bent-over rows and a resistance-band overhead press. The source text also describes a plank as a core exercise, but its reproduced workout list ends partway through the overhead-press instructions, so the complete sequence and instructions are not available in the supplied material.
Reid advises checking blood sugar before exercise, immediately after and two to four hours later. Once a person has a better understanding of their response, he says they can gradually increase resistance or intensity. That progression is his training guidance, not individualized medical advice. Fit&Well says the advice was reviewed by Neil Gibson, a senior physical activity adviser at Diabetes UK.
Monitoring Exercise and Blood Sugar
The recommendation puts monitoring and gradual adaptation ahead of performance goals. That distinction matters because the source does not claim that one workout produces the same blood sugar response in everyone. Reid’s stated approach is for clients to observe their own readings around exercise before progressing, rather than assume that a routine will affect all bodies in the same way.
The article also points to a potential longer-term role for strength training. Reid says strength work can improve insulin sensitivity and that building muscle may support glycogen storage. These are claims attributed to the trainer; the source does not provide study results, quantify an effect or say the workout can replace diabetes treatment. Readers should treat the routine as general exercise guidance, not a promise of blood sugar control.
For people considering a new exercise plan, the practical takeaway is to make the routine manageable and to seek guidance suited to their health and treatment. The source emphasizes tracking glucose, but it does not give individualized thresholds or instructions for responding to a particular reading. Those details should not be inferred from the workout alone.
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A Four-Week Starting Routine
Reid says he generally recommends strength training first because, in his view, many people he works with do not strength train and have low muscle mass. His proposed first month uses the same basic sets and repetitions from session to session. He describes that repetition as intentional: the aim is to get familiar with how the body responds, rather than immediately increase difficulty.
The article says BetterMe recently launched workouts for people with diabetes in collaboration with Diabetes UK. The reported emphasis on checking blood sugar before and after exercise is consistent with the routine’s focus on observation. The source does not give the launch date or further details about the collaboration, such as the full workout series or how it is delivered.
Fit&Well reports Reid as an NSCA-certified trainer and says Gibson of Diabetes UK reviewed the advice. Those credentials and review are relevant to how the article presents its guidance, but they do not turn a general workout into a personalized plan for a particular reader.
“Your first month, don’t even worry about building muscle. In my opinion, you need to learn how your body reacts to the training.”
— Garett Reid, trainer at BetterMe: Health Coaching, speaking to Fit&Well
Individual Responses Still Vary
The source provides no guarantee that the workout is safe for every person with diabetes. It does not specify how exercise guidance should change based on diabetes type, medications, complications, fitness level or a person’s blood sugar readings. Nor does it provide thresholds for when to stop exercising or what action to take after an unexpected result.
The supplied workout description is also incomplete: it cuts off during the overhead-press instructions and does not show a full final exercise list. It is unclear from the material provided whether the original article includes additional exercises or safety instructions beyond those reproduced here. The source gives no publication date, and no further details about the BetterMe–Diabetes UK workout series are included.
Reid’s statements about insulin sensitivity, muscle function and glucose regulation are attributed claims in the report, not evidence that this specific routine will manage blood sugar for any individual. The article does not offer clinical trial data or outcome figures for the workout.
Follow-up Depends on Personal Response
Reid’s stated next step for someone using the routine is to repeat it for four weeks, keep the effort low and record blood sugar around each session. He says people who understand their response can then raise the weight or intensity gradually. The source does not set a single timetable or progression target for everyone.
People living with diabetes who want to start or change an exercise routine should discuss their circumstances with a qualified health professional, especially if they have concerns about glucose changes, medication or diabetes-related complications. Readers seeking the full routine should consult Fit&Well’s original report, since the supplied text does not contain all exercise instructions. The source does not state when additional details about the BetterMe and Diabetes UK program will be released.
Key Questions
What is the trainer recommending?
Reid recommends a low-intensity, full-body strength routine for people starting exercise, repeated two to three times weekly for four weeks. The supplied description includes squats, glute bridges, wall push-ups, banded rows and an overhead press, but its instructions end partway through the last exercise.
How often does the source recommend checking blood sugar?
It advises checking before exercise, immediately afterward and two to four hours later to observe how the body responds. It does not provide personal glucose targets or instructions for handling specific readings.
Does the workout guarantee safe blood sugar levels?
No. The report presents a trainer’s general recommendation and does not say the routine is safe for everyone or guarantee a particular blood sugar outcome. Individual guidance may depend on a person’s health and treatment.
When should someone increase the workout’s difficulty?
Reid says to repeat the same sets and repetitions at first, then consider gradually increasing resistance or intensity once the person understands their response. The source does not provide a universal schedule for progression.
Who reviewed the advice?
Fit&Well says it was reviewed by Neil Gibson, a senior physical activity adviser at Diabetes UK. The article also identifies Reid as an NSCA-certified trainer.
Source: rss
