Exercising with T2 Diabetes

[Scardoc]

I'm T1 and exercise a lot. When exercising regularly I take very little insulin, have lower BG readings and can eat pretty much what I want although do try and avoid the sweet stuff!!

However, I am interested in how exercise works with T2 diabetes? Eg, how does it effect blood sugar levels? Do you need to take carbs on board during exercise? Does it have a knock on effect on your BG levels after 24hrs?

 

[Grazer]

I never take carbs on specifically for exercise, although I'm largely diet controlled so some on Glic or other meds might. I just enjoy the lower BGs.
A round of golf will see me in the threes. No prob as a diet T2; it's where non-diabetics would be. Just means i can maybe enjoy a few more carbs in my meal after.
Apart from exercise of that nature, I exercise for ten minutes only really hard on an exercise machine after my main carby meal of the day. I do this about 1 hour after eating when I know my BGs will normally be peaking. testing has showed me it brings my BGs down quicker and lower. So I don't carb up for exercise, I exercise to "carb down" if you like!
No follow up affects the next day.

 

[didie]

I'm diet-controlled and thanks to Grazer's excellent advice I exercise 45 minutes to an hour after eating to bring my levels down. This evening I've done 30 minutes of intense step which is pretty aerobic, but doesn't get my heart rate too high which would be counter-productive as that would put my levels up. It's all a question of balance.

 

[Grazer]

Good point about the aerobic versus anaerobic Didie!

 

[stevolution]

I choose HIIT.
I go up three, maybe three and a half clicks when I check right after exercising as I assume my liver dumps at some point.
The plus side being I'm in the low fours about an hour and a half later so it's a really quick reaction.

 

[xyzzy]

I exercise by walking the dogs for around an hour and a bit most days so I would guess I do around 3 to 5km / day. I don't count the walking really as exercise but more a time to de stress and get outside and away from my desk. Like borofergie says for weight loss I don't see a great deal of point in structured hard exercise, all that work for such a small calorie burn. As a diet only T2 who runs his levels really low (I average around 4.8 over the day) if I do too much strenuous exercise all that happens is I liver dump and then have to wait hours while the spike dissipates because of my poor fast acting insulin response. As my diet is probably semi Ketogenic (I average around 60g / day carbs) the experts on the forum tell me walking is a good form of exercise as it encourages burning fat rather than encouraging a liver dump to get fast acting glucose reserves which is great.

I honestly haven't changed my exercise regime since being diagnosed. All I have done is swap to a lchf regime and watched the kilos fall off. I never was officially "obese" i.e had a BMI < 30 at diagnosis but I've lost just under 25kg in 4 months and yes like Grazer mentioned in the other thread I have noticed improvements in insulin resistance but I still can't consume more than a slice of Burgen or a couple level tablespoons of rice or pasta so I expect my function is pretty shot to pieces. My current BMI is now just around 24 and I'm aiming for 22. My Cholesterol levels are excellent and I'm now running slightly on the low side for blood pressure.

In terms of exercise and levels I find it depends on the time of day. For instance I can normally shift a whole 1.0 of levels if I just briskly walk around the block for 5 or 10 minutes first thing in the morning. I occasionally do that if I wake up with bad DP. When I do the 3km walks in the evening they hardly ever register a change in BG's at all.

I have no problem with people doing as much exercise as they want it is patently a good thing to do just don't think people should be particularly coerced into doing exercise as some people like myself really do loathe the idea of pointless treadmills and exercise bikes etc. Each to his own.

 

[borofergie]

I'm T1 and exercise a lot. When exercising regularly I take very little insulin, have lower BG readings and can eat pretty much what I want although do try and avoid the sweet stuff!!

However, I am interested in how exercise works with T2 diabetes? Eg, how does it effect blood sugar levels? Do you need to take carbs on board during exercise? Does it have a knock on effect on your BG levels after 24hrs?

It depends on how hard I exercise.

At <80% Max HR, I can run for a couple of hours, when I finish my BG will about the same as when I started
At >90% Max HR, My liver will dump and I'll get very high BG readings straight after exercising, sometimes 10mmol/l or more.

In both cases (but especially the second) I'll be much less insulin resistant for the next few hours, meaning that my tolerance to carbs will be. I've worked out that, despite the spike, liver dumping helps me out, because it drives me deeper into ketosis.

<80% Max effort is mainly fat burning (aerobic)
>90% Max effort is almost entirely glucose burning (anaerobic).

I can run for a couple of hours aerobically (and probably even longer), but I can only run anerobically for 30 minutes max, at which point I've exausted most of my muscle and liver glycogen stores.

 

[SouthernGeneral6512]

Lots of interesting posts ... just how important to diabetes is exercise can it really make a big difference?

 

[didie]

For me, exercise is the key to it all. I started exercising to bring down my levels and found I started losing weight. I then tweaked my diet and here I am nearly a year after my stroke and subsequent diagnosis of diabetes, 5 stone 2 lbs lighter with non-diabetic blood levels. Today I have walked 8.67 miles which is actually quite low for me now. I usually walk 10-12 miles a day, but I've been feeling a bit off colour today.