Pump advice for starting at the gym tomorrow?

donnac1968

Well-Known Member
Messages
80
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
I'm starting at the gym tomorrow morning at 10am. I am on a pump and haven't exercised for as long as I can remember. I've booked a session with a personal trainer to get me started so it could be a bit full on. I'm female, 48, Type 1 for 30 years.

Any advice on what to eat for breakfast? I usually have one slice of granary toast.

Any advice on pump settings? Reduce basal by 50%?

Thanks
Donna
 
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How exercise affects you is down to many things
- how fit are you? You say you haven't exercised fro as log as you remember but for some people this means you only walk 10 steps to the car and for others this means you only walk a couple of miles to the supermarket and carry a week of shopping home.
- what type of exercise are you doing? aerobic typically reduces BG and anaerobic increases BG
- how long are you exercising for? 15 minutes HIIT may raise your BG whereas 45 minutes HIIT is likely to reduce it

But as an example, I go to the gym 3 - 4 times a week. Walking there takes 10 minutes then I start 30 minutes of HIIT type cardio followed by 15 minutes of resistance training (weights, abs and stretching). Typically, I reduce my basal by 10 or 20% 60 minutes before I leave home (the basal change usually takes and hour to take affect); I take a BG reading when I get to the gym as a reference point; I take another BG reading when I finish cardio. If I see my BG dropping a lot (close to 4), I remove my pump completely. If my BG is closer to 6, I keep it on. When I get home, I take another BG and then decide whether to keep my pump off for another hour (still going low) or put it back on (returning to normality). I then reduce my BG for the next 12 hours by 10 or 20%.

I also go climbing. This raises my BG. For this, I increase my basal by 30% for 2.5 hours an hour before I start climbing. I make any adjustments to target a BG of around 5 when I start. After 1.5 hours of climbing, I take a BG, adjust accordingly and then remove pump for the next 2 hours (1.5 hours of climbing) as I find I have used up most of my glucose reserves.

Basically, it requires trial and error as well as a gut feel of whether you are going to have/are having/ had a tough session.
 

donnac1968

Well-Known Member
Messages
80
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
I'm not sure what I'll be doing as I've not been before. Probably a treadmill warm up then some weights. I think the trainer said we'll start with upper body. I'll probably reduce basals an hour before I go and luckily I have a freestyle libre so can scan as often as I like.
As for how much I do now, I just stroll the dog around the park once a day for 20 minutes. I don't call it exercise though.
I've been frightened of hypos for years so any exertion would make me panic but after some therapy I'm ok with lower sugars again. But the high ones have taken their toll!
Will report back how I get on
Thanks.
 

MangosteenElbow

Active Member
Messages
40
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Make sure you tell your trainer about your condition. This is not a time to hide it.
Likely that your personal trainer will not really have any idea of the implications. Possibly they might think they know from very lightweight articles in journals and websites for trainers. Possibly they will confuse types 1 and 2.
So, the likely main point of telling the (inexpert) trainer is to give the context that you have extra reasons to monitor and adapt exercising.
One of the key errors in non-expert advice is confusing the concepts of high intensity ir even high intensity intervals with sustained vigorous cardio exercise activity.
Without now elaborating, the bet thing you can do for youself is keep a journal. Write down the general nature of your session, what you did before during or after (basal bolus nutrients) and how your body responded (even thru the night).
You can be very scientific about this but just start easy and low key as it suits you.

This is the best way to manage the innunerable variations in your training and your body's response. No one can give you a perfect formula, just ideas and things to try. Those who think they can sell you a formula or web based service to manage it are misdirecting you.
Your own management is the key - data, record, analyse responses and adapt (often trial and errors).
In brief, you are "n=1" but can learn from "n=thousands".

As one of those many ideas to trial, i have found that veing ketogenic adapted has made a huge difference. Imagine (on a pimp) vigorously training in the gym or running for 45 minutes or more and still ending up on 4.4 mMol with no basal or bolus or carbs ingested and no nocturnal hypos. Beyond the ken of most trainers, dietitians, nutritionists, endos. (My own records stop their response that it can't be happening.)

Become your own expert in your physical activity.
Best wishes.
Keep posting.
 

auroralapetite

Active Member
Messages
28
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
How did it go, Donna? I'll agree with both posters above, I need less insulin for cardio and more onboard for weights, but start slowly with the adjustments and monitor regularly.
 

donnac1968

Well-Known Member
Messages
80
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Well I had a little less bolos with breakfast and then turned the pump to 60% (so -40%) 90 minutes before to run for 3 hours.

When I turned up at the gym I was told the personal trainer was on his driving test!!!

So I explained that I'd adjusted insulin and food etc to do the exercise so they got me someone else to show me around and go through a few weights and stuff so I could at least get started. I suppose I was actually exercising for about 40 minutes total.

My bg was 10 before I went but did creep up to 14 so the adjustments were too much for what I did today. Well so far that is, there may be changes as time goes on today and overnight I'm guessing. I have taken normal lunch and bolus.
 

therower

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,922
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi @donnac1968 . Well done on getting to the gym. Although this may not be the reason for your BS rise, it's important to know that strenuous intense exercise in short periods can actually raise BS significantly for a period of time after you stop exercising.
If I do a heavy weight session my BS can rise buy anything up to 5 points, problem is after a few hours it can drop rather rapidly.
Not sure what your current exercise regime is and if you are already aware of this apologies, but if you are just stating out at the gym it may be something worth considering.
P.S. If you are new to a new exercise regime, even a easy light workout will be new and a shock to the system.
Good luck and happy training.
 

donnac1968

Well-Known Member
Messages
80
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
I've been three times now. On Friday it was quite intense because I had a personal trainer and my bg went right up afterwards, and in the afternoon, and then fell significantly in the afternoon.

Its all a bit trial and error at the moment, so I'll try some thing different next time.
 
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