Hi guys I hope you don't mind me butting in. This is my first post but one which I feel very strongly about. Short intro: I've been a t1 diabetic for nearly 21 years and started training with weights at 13 years old (my dad was a competitive weightlifter and I happend to inherit those strong genes!). I train 5-6 times a week, hate continuous cardio but love HIIT!
I had the opportunity to take part in a research trial taking place at Swansea university a few weeks ago on diabetes and strength/weight training. The PhD student researching this topic was Daniel Turner, under the supervision of Dr Richard Bracken and Prof Stephen Bain (my old consultant). Dr Bracken and Prof Bain specialise in diabetes and exercise so have a look at some of their work (journal articles ect). Dan's in the process of collating all the data at the moment, but I'll happily share his conclusions once they're available. Here are some of my (not so scientific but useful) points/tips on this topic:-
Check your bg frequently (as has been mentioned) - I test an hour before, straight before and straight after without fail
Manage your basal dose - your bg will probably be high straight after intense weight training (sessions that are less than 1 hour) but don't be fooled because it fires up your metabolism, uses insulin much more effectively and burns energy for hours later so you'll need less basal.
Try to keep pre-session bg under 12 - I've found that if it's higher than this, combined with the effect of the session, you'll start to feel a bit rubbish. However, I did get a PB on the leg press (350kg!) with a bg of 19. There's always an exception.
Don't over-compensate too much: if you inject enough bolus to aim for a bg of 4-5, you're pretty much destined for a hypo! I suffer with really bad delayed onset hypos in the night/first thing in the morning so when I finish my session around 6:30-7ish, my bolus is usually small and aiming for a bg of around 10.
Morning sessions are different (in the past, I've kept to a moderate-intensity power walk, which doesn't cause bg to raise as much, but have recently ventured into some kettlebell circuits pre-breakfast, which usually needs 1 or 2 extra units)
Keep a record and even create a graph on excel to determine the trends.
Understand your own insulin sensitivity.
Sports massage is a great way of stimulating muscle growth but beware, it should be treated in the same way as a gym session. I stupidly trained back/triceps then had a sports massage which resulted in a hypo nearly immediately and the next morning!
Apologies of the long post...this is a topic that's had little research done so it's great to share as much personal experience as possible. Also, you might find Melanie Stephenson's blog useful: she's a t1 diabetic and a Welsh international sprinter so the type of training she does is along the same lines as me but on a much greater level. She's a Diabetes UK Cymru ambassador too.
Training, I can do...loosing body fat is a whole other story! You win some, you lose some.
Best wishes everyone
Charlotte x
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