MAT and Diabetes

Image courtesy of http://chriskresser.com

I do not have any scientific backing for what I am about to say, but rather this claim is made purely off of first-hand experience and observation.

As a Type 1 diabetic, managing my blood glucose levels is something that is never far from my conscious stream of thought.  Since I began participating in Muscle Activation Technique™ sessions on a regularly (weekly) basis, this task has been much easier to perform.  My blood glucose levels are noticeably lower and more stable when I make it a point to participate in an MAT session at least once per week.  Previously, if I would go more than a week without participating in an MAT session, my blood glucose levels would begin to fluctuate more throughout the day.  After having MAT sessions regularly for the past 8 and a half months, I can now go longer without a session and still my blood glucose levels remain easier to manage.  Admittedly, I rarely go a week now without MAT so I cannot speak to the exact threshold level, but certainly after a week I'm still good to go.

Also, when I would participate less frequently in MAT sessions, I would still notice a lowering of my blood glucose levels, it just wouldn't remain for the entire time between sessions.  Just like most other forms of exercise, most benefits or adaptations that may occur as a response to the imposed stimulus may diminish over time if you are not exposed to a relatively similarly challenging stimulus on a somewhat regular basis.

Like I stated above, I cannot explain why this lowering and easier management of my blood glucose happens.  It is just something I have observed and experienced.  However, from what has been reported to me by other specialists, other diabetics, both Type 1 and Type 2, have experienced similar improvement in control and overall lower blood glucose readings after they have an MAT session.

Speculation/Thoughts from this:

1)  Lower blood glucose levels for me means I have been using about 14% less insulin since I began being regularly worked on.  Which means less man-made chemical I am putting into my body.

2)  If blood glucose levels become easier to manage for myself and (apparently) other diabetics after regularly experiencing MAT, I can't help but wonder if the same holds true for non-diabetics, where their blood glucose levels become more stable as well.

3)  If MAT actually does help to create more stable blood glucose levels as a by-product of making muscles contract better, I wonder if the more stable blood glucose levels will also contribute to the effectiveness of each MAT session.  Meaning by presenting a potentially less-stressed system, will that actually improve the ability of the MAT session to get muscles to contract better as well as for those muscles to stay contracting better for longer periods of time post-session.

I am by no means making an argument that MAT improves diabetes.  I want to make that clear.  MAT provides an opportunity for muscles to contract more efficiently.  That's it.  There may be very beneficial by-products of muscles contracting more efficiently, but that is not the focus of MAT.  Nevertheless, I find it very interesting that I have noticed this pattern of more consistently stable and lower blood glucose levels within myself after regularly experiencing MAT.

Are you participating in Muscle Activation Techniques™ sessions on a regular basis?  How might it be of benefit to you?

Inter­ested in find­ing out more? Check out the “Mus­cle Acti­va­tion Tech­niques™” page.

Inter­ested in set­ting up an assess­ment time or dis­cussing this sub­ject fur­ther? E-mail Char­lie at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

Your body. Your training.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You can, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yel­low box below!