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Best quick exercise to reduce blood glucose?

R

RosiePalmer

Member
Messages
10
Hi all
I'm type 1 and pregnant and so need really good control. Obviously exercise is a great way to reduce blood glucose. I find walking really effective as it's relaxing too but some times I can't take 20 mins out of my working day. When I've tried to do quick high intensity exercise I find it doesn't always reduce BG (I know that some exercise can actually increase BG if too hard). Does anyone have recommendations for quick exercises I can do in my living room in work breaks? Ideally without equipment and without too much noise to annoy my downstairs neighbour! Thank you!
 
As you say in a perfect world you'd be walking or cycling gently for 20 minutes. This is ideal for pregnancy too.
My only advice is to break up those 20 minutes into bite sized chunks like going up and down the stairs for 4 minutes 5 x a day if you can't manage the whole block.
The other thing is that you will at some point need more insulin to cover your blood sugars due to the natural insulin resistance that comes with the rapid growth in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters.
I have the Peleton free trial and there's quite a few mini workouts on there that look like fun and include meditation and pregnancy pilates both of which will help you beat stress related blood sugar spikes.

Best of luck with your pregnancy and I really hope work eases off and that you are keeping up with the ante natal checks (got caught out with pre eclampsia at 34 weeks and was deluded about the need to prove myself as a working mum to be).
 

Hi there, walking on the spot (quietly of course) for however many minutes you can. I find even a few stretches and press ups send me shooting downwards. Can you manage a ten minute walk?, you would be surprised at how that lowers glucose levels. x
 
Unfortunately, we are all different. For me, any short (les than 15 minutes) intensive exercise will raise my blood sugars. On the other hand, low intensity exercise such as walking will have no impact on my blood sugars. However, as I exercise for mental well being and not for diabetic (or weight loss) reasons, I enjoy walking.

My recommendation would be to try a few things to see what works for you. It could be cleaning, it could be walking out your flat downstairs and back up again (who cares what other think!), it could be walking on the spot or it could be a yoga or tai chi routine (there are plenty of YouTube videos). Do what you enjoy and what you feel you can maintain. You could combine a few.

Remember, even I f they raise your blood sugars, there are other benefits and, with Type 1, you have other options to reduce blood sugars ... such as insulin.
 
Thanks everyone. It sounds like there's no silver bullet here and that I really just need to prioritise regular walking breaks if that's what works for me. I'm still in first trimester so am aware it will become more difficult to reduce BG as time goes on, may be then it's time to get an exercise bike. I think part of my issue is trying to cram in as much exercise into a short a burst as possible which can be counter productive. So I just need work to take a back seat a bit more.. any more tips gladly welcomed. Thank you
 

Hi Rosie,

I’ve consistently found that it’s aerobic-type exercise that lowers my BG when it’s high. A walk, or a quick 20-minute bike ride. I also do workouts, but while good in other ways, they don’t have the same BG lowering effect.

Best.
 
I do all sorts, I do low intensity like yoga or Pilates and walking or I do high intensity like cardio combat. Most often for all of them my sugars rise immediately after, howeve r they tend to be lower in the longer term. Or at least a bit less swingy,
Having said that other than walking I never eat before a workout so it could very well be that on top of the usual.
With walking I always eat my normal fry up before hand just because I’m outside and don’t want to feel rotten.
Davina McCall does do one video ( and there are probably others ] where she does 10 minute workouts
 

Hi Rosie, I don't know if it's possible but I actually bought a treadmill (you can get cheaper ones or 2nd hand ones I think) and of course you need the space, which means when I can't be bothered to get dressed and go out for a run, I go on that. That way it's a lot easier to find that spare 5/10 mins. A bike is similar of course but when I go on the exercise bike it seems to keep my glucose levels the same or makes them go up even when I'm pedalling slowly! With running it all depends on speed and for how long. sigh. x
 
Something that relaxes you will help reduce blood sugar. The flip side is stress, which will increase blood sugar.

Water relaxes me. I don’t know why. I get into a pool and start swimming and there’s a focus and a soothing calm that just takes over. I really enjoy it. And if I don’t prepare by eating something 1st my numbers will always drop down low. But swimming isn’t typically a fast activity. But it is one that I really like.
 
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