Diabetes and Working Out

[ks91]

Hey everyone,
I'll give just a brief bit of info before I ask my question. I'm 18 year old, and I've been Type 1 for roughly 8 months now. The first few months were a bit shaky, but I'm confident now and my blood sugar is usually very well controlled. My last hba1c was 5.3% and I try and keep as fit and healthy as possible. I'm on MDI of Humalog and Lantus, and eat roughly 140g of carbs a day (which i'm happy with).

I've been going to the gym quite regularly since I was diagnosed and have really built up my strength and fitness. My usual routine is to have lunch (usually a sandwich) and then go to the gym, and within 30 minutes of exercise my blood sugar is constant, so I'm basically skipping out an injection at lunch on the days I go to the gym.

Working with personal trainers I've set up a 6 month training programme for myself, and this is where I kind of stumbled upon a bit of difficulty. I've noticed a bit of weight gain with high insulin usage, hence why I try and moderate my carbs and insulin use, and over the last few months I've managed to keep my weight at 60kg (my height is 5 foot 6) which is in the perfect BMI range. The first two months of my work-out regime focuses on building strength. This involves lifting heavy weights and a large intake of carbs and protein. However being diabetic this isn't simple, because I know the more carbs I eat, the more insulin I inject, and the more weight I gain especially around my belly. I'm not sure what to do exactly. Shall I continue to skip my lunch time injection? How about the extra carbs added to my diet, if I don't inject for those (and burn them off at the gym) does that mean that they don't exist anymore? I understand that a fairly carb-heavy diet is necessary for bulking up, but I just don't like the thought of injecting more insulin, especially as I find if I inject over 14 units of humalog a day (I'm on a 1:10 insulin/carb ratio) I instantly notice weight gain.

Thanks for reading this, I'm not sure if I made myself clear at all, but any help would be greatly appreciated.
All the best, K

 

[phoenix]

Hi,
I haven't any personal experience of this type of training, hopefully someone who has may come along soon.
In the meantime this account written by a person into high level bodybuilding might help as he seems to have had similar problems (though he's not on quite the same insulin regime as you so be aware of that) The rest of the site may also be useful
http://www.runsweet.com/BodyBuilding.htm

 

[ajsmum]

Hi K,
although more carbs may be necessary for the energy side of things, protein is the muscle builder - if you are working with a personal trainer you would need to slightly change your programme to take it from strength to more muscle building - this would involve more muscle focus exercises. You do not need to increase your carbs - you need to increase your protein for muscle growth. Muscle growth is very much to do with the way you train. You may find your levels drop, as you are exerting your self more - in which case you would have a higher carb meal before you exercise (which you wouldnt need to inject for as you are doing this to prevent a hypo) - it will be trial and error. Weight reduction is dealt with by cardio exercise - which obvioulsy requires an increase in carbs - again to prevent a hypo.
- To give you a bit of background, AJ is 18 and regulary goes to the gym - his dad (who has provided this advice) is a practising gym instructor and personal trainer. AJ can not inject when he goes to the gym - as he will hypo within 15 minutes of exercise. His programme involves both cardio and weights. His programme is adjusted constantly depending on what he wants to focus on - eg muscle building or weight reduction. AJ is very lucky that his dad is so well qualified - and obvioulsy has so much knowledge about being diabetic. Personal trainers should all have a basic understanding of diabetes - but they will not be experts - so will not understand or be able to advise you about how much to inject etc. You need to discuss this with a specialist diabteic dietician. In the mean time - unless you are increasing your carbs for any other reason, you shouldnt be increasing your carbs more than is enough to prevent a hypo (therfore you shouldnt need to inject - neither should you gain weight as you are fat burning with the extra exertion). One last thing to remember - if your muscle size increase you WILL gain weight, as muscle weighs more than fat. This is a fact, so if you do increase your muscle size you must weigh more.
I hope that this helps
Good luck :wink:

 

[hanadr]

Hi k
As Ajs Mum says. You don't need to increase your carbs at all. There are elite level athletes following low carb diets successfully.
I'm a grandmother, but I attend the gym regularly and the swimming pool. I don't do weights, but I do aerobics, resistance and circuits. I eat no carbs before I go.
I don't use insulin, only Metformin( I'm T2) and I've as much stamina as my gym buddies( all older people) who eat cereals, toast or porridge for breakfast.
Today, I've done 45 minutes aquarobics, followed by 45 minutes circuits, mixing resistance with cardio and I had a piece of Brie cheese for breakfast.
Hana
Ps the toughest part is getting dressed after the pool :lol:

 

[phoenix]

As Ajs Mum says. You don't need to increase your carbs at all

I'm not sure I read it that way.
I also don't think its anything to do with stamina. I used to run distances before I used insulin and not necessarily eat carbs beforehand. It's having exogenous insulin in the body .When exercising the muscles can use glucose with very small amounts of insulin, a person with their own insulin can switch it off, someone on MDI can't switch off their basal and the tail of the bolus can be there for up to 5 hours after the injection,
Hence the need to eat some carbs and/ or reduce the bolus on the previous meal. The latter isn't always effective because if you wait to exercise glucose levels may rise too high, if you exercise close to the injection time you may hypo before the food is fully digested.
Personally, I eat some carb before I do aerobic exercise and drip feed single glucose tablets along the way or as I'm lucky enough to have a pump, cut my basal insulin rate, (though I still often have to drip feed some glucose )
I'm about to go for 5 miles, I'm not fast, it will take me just under an hour .This should use up about 400 calories (probably more because it's hilly) so using 20g carbs at 80 calories is a fair swap.

 

[arjster]

I think this is quite useful/nice to read about working out...
[youtube]TYXQtZvh3bs[/youtube]

 

[hanadr]

My Gym buddies range in age fromarly 50s to over 80. We don't look like that girl and I would say that the friendship within the group would be one of our major reasons for getting together 4 days per week
We do aquarobics, circuits and Tai chi together. more than one session of most of them. I also do 2 weekly health walks. At least 2 miles at a brisk pace. Often more.
hana

 

[ks91]

Hey everyone,
Just like to thank you all for your advice. Fortunately I managed to meet with my diabetic dietitian today and went through some diet options, with an increase in protein intake, whilst keeping the carbs under control.

I will keep a lot of what you guys said in mind. I've needed to eat a higher carb meal pre-workout in order to stop my blood sugar levels from falling. I'm just wondering whether it would be a good idea to maybe reduce my basal insulin injection by a couple of units on the days when I work out as I usually find that even hours after the work out my blood sugar levels remain on the low side?

Thanks once again.

 

[ajsmum]

Hi K,
give your diebetic nurse or dietician a call and discuss this with them. They will probably suggest that it is a good idea to reduce your basal if you are going to be working out - but this could cause you some problems if you do reduce and then for some reason miss the work out. Plus they should advise you about how many units you need to reduce by. Sometimes, if you do work out a lot - it is worth considering a basal insulin that is split into 2 doses - rather than 1 that works over 24 hours. That way you can adjust one dose if you need to - but you really need to discuss this with your team.
Keep up the fitness plan - its great for everyone to keep fit - but if you have diabetes it has the added benfit of making your insulin work much more effectively