To reduce your insulin levels, t
Here’s the good news: You can do this without making yourself huff and puff. You need your muscles to work but not so hard that they run out of oxygen, which is what makes you short of breath. You can do this by walking; you don’t need to run.
Your walking muscles are actually designed to work without fatigue. That’s because they’re powered by a special kind of muscle fiber called a type 1 or “slow-twitch” fiber. Slow-twitch fibers are designed to work continuously without rest. They can do that because they contain many mitochondria, tiny dynamos in cells that use oxygen to produce energy. The large numbers of mitochondria in your slow-twitch fibers allow them to replace the energy they use as they are working. They don’t build up an oxygen “debt,” which is what causes muscle fatigue.
If you don’t believe you can work your muscles without causing fatigue think of your diaphragm, the muscle that moves air in and out of your lungs. It works continuously day and night without your even being aware of it. That’s because it’s powered by slow-twitch muscle fibers. The large numbers of mitochondria in these fibers utilize oxygen to generate all the energy they use as they’re working.
Of course your breathing muscles comprise only a small fraction of your total muscle mass, but there’s a much larger group of muscles powered by slow-twitch fibers: your walking muscles. They amount to approximately 70 percent of your total muscle mass, and like your diaphragm they can work continuously without tiring. Think about it; you could walk for hours without stopping. Your feet might get sore and you might get bored, but your muscles could keep right on going. What other exercise could you do for hours without stopping? Of all the physical activities people do, walking burns the most fuel with the least perception of exertion.
Here’s the good news. Because of the large numbers of mitochondria in those slow-twitch muscles, they’re the ones you need to exercise to restore your body’s responsiveness to insulin. That’s right; the muscles that lower your insulin levels are exactly the ones that require the least amount of effort to exercise. Bottom line, you can run if you want, but the easiest way to restore your body’s responsiveness to insulin is to walk.
