Cycling, blood sugars, stuff. Returning to exercise.

[LittleGreyCat]

I've been taking almost no exercise for about 6 weeks due to family matters and a back problem that flared up near the start of everything.

So now I am walking (but not especially fast) and cycling (ditto).

However I do go out once a week with a cycling group which does around 20 miles on mainly flat terrain. However the short hills are quite steep.

Last year I was never the last of the group but this year I struggle to keep up. My aerobic fitness seems to have disappeared. Once I get this back, from previous experience my legs will complain until I build them up, then back to the lungs complaining. Whatever.

Anyway at the moment I am doing a six mile circular just to get my legs working, and a 20 mile route once a week for the general humiliation of being constantly dropped off the back of the group and gasping my way up hills and crying openly.

After the six mile circular my BG is 6.8 (one test).
After the 20 miles of torture (coffee stop included, first week ham egg and bacon special breakfast included) my BG is 4.1.
After the first 4.1 I tested in the morning and my BG was 5.1. Must remember to test tomorrow morning.

This all has me wondering if there is a time and intensity of exercise which gets your liver dumping and your BG up a bit, then a further length and intensity which uses up all your spare glucose stores (which then take a while to replenish). I must assume that as I was still moving with a BG of 4.1 I am probably getting most of my remaining energy from non-glucose sources.

Following on from this is being permanently knackered the way to keep BG at non-diabetic levels?

 

[Deleted Account]

Whilst duration has an impact, so does the type of exercise, your fitness at that type of exercise and the intensity of the exercise.
The only way of working out what works for you is continuous trial,and error.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Just to update - tested this morning and 5.8. So another theory wobbles a bit.
However after my first long ride I was exhausted for the next two days and today I feel fine.
It does look as though long hard exercise may be beneficial.

Edit: of course, define "beneficial". Short bursts of exercise may lower BG and build fitness. However probably you need to exercise over a long period to build stamina. Difference between a sprinter and a long distance runner.

 

[Davie_sett]

I don’t really know the science behind but cycling normally lowers my blood sugar especially on longer rides

 

[Mbaker]

I have found that cardio can get blood sugars down, but I have to swear by power and strength training as being the quickest, most efficient method method of lowering blood sugar.

I would swap 1 hours cardio for 10 to 15 minutes of barbell bench press, barbell squats, barbell deadlift and lateral pull down. I have just got back home from London so will immediately do this, as I didn't get a chance to walk and train earlier.

The science holds up, a deadlife recruits over 10 muscle groups especially when the core is braced. For me, a single deadlift delivers 10-12 calorie burn according to my Fitbit, and my fbg in the morning will definitely be below 4.5 mmol/l.