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Gym

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Darion

Active Member
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25
Hi everyone, I’m about to rejoin the gym, and haven’t been for about 4 years and that was with a friend and not really taken seriously.

However this time I’m looking to go 5 days a week about an hour at most a day, during my break at work.

My question is how do people prepare for the gym knowing that sugar levels can and will drop, what would you eat to make sure you levels remain a good level without filling up on rubbish just to have a crash after 10 minutes!

Would also be interest to see how people manage post workout.

Thanks for any help and advice!
Darion
 
I got to the gym 5 times a week , I make sure my bs are about 8 before I go I always carry m8ni cans of cola 8n my bag and 8 take my fast acting insulin pen with me as bs can raise depending on type of exercise your doing ,, if sugar is runn8ng at about 5 before I go I normally eat a banana I find them excellent , I don’t mind my sugar rising while I’m at the gym as I can deal with that easy enough When I’m done
 
Hi @Darion

Preparing for the gym entirely depends on what exercise you intend to do and how it affects your body.
Until you know, you need to prepare for most eventuality with regard to BG.
For example, I find most cardio will cause my levels to drop and resistance exercise will cause my levels to rise. There are exceptions (for me) such as HIIT which causes my BG to rise.

My advice for the first gym visit is to start with your BG between about 6 and 9 with no insulin on board (no bolus for the last 3 or 4 hours), keep hypo treatment with you at all times and test halfway through and at the end of your workout.

Remember exercise can affect your levels for the next 48 hours. You may find you are More likely to hypo for the next day or two.
You say you plan To visit the gym 5 days a week. The impact of exercise over multiple days may be cumulative.
 
What exercise you do has an effect. Running, cycling, high aerobic exercises usually drop sugars. However, I found that doing weights and abs etc did the opposite and raised my sugars very quickly.
but to extra complicate things, the weights classes and the whole morning caught up with me about 3/4 hours later and caused low sugars.
My consultant explained that certain exercises raised blood sugars because they released endorphins, which give a natural sugar release to the body.
I exercised a lot, weights, spin classes, body pump, treadmill running and abs classes 5 days a week.
I got very confused that my body didn’t do what most health professionals said it should do and drop my blood sugars.
Very often it raised them to levels I had to drop with extra fast acting insulin injections. If it I did that, I would be extra careful hours later and be sure to eat carbs to avoid the hypo.
do regular blood checks and see how different exercises effect you. That way you should be better equipped to handle it in future.
 
Darion said:
My question is how do people prepare for the gym knowing that sugar levels can and will drop, what would you eat to make sure you levels remain a good level without filling up on rubbish just to have a crash after 10 minutes!
Click to expand...

I haven't been for 6 months (was waiting it out while NZ covid levels were high), but I wouldn't assume that going to the gym will necessarily make your levels go low. Personally, I find that some kinds of exercise push my levels up, others make them go down.....

So : go for a long walk, my levels go down
Do weights: my levels tend to go up.

And I've had both hypers and hypos at the gym.... I take both insulin pen and glucose with me when I go. If I'm wearing my dexcom it's pretty easy to preempt highs and lows, if I'm not then I do a glucometer test before and half way through...

And I definitely find that I need less insulin the day after my gym session, but I have some insulin resistance going on (T2 dad and I'm overweight).
 

Thanks for your response. Interested to see you say that yours levels raised instead of dropped. I plan to do around 45 mins to an hour, starting and ending with cardio and weights in the middle of those.

Sounds like you managed to fit quite a lot in without too many complications, hopefully it won’t take me long to adjust to the new routine!

Thanks again
Darion
 

Hi Ellie

Thanks for the response. I only say about sugar levels dropping as in my experience when doing both weights and cardio my levels dropped, but my technique with is weights is to superset and and have a high intensity session where my heart rate is quite high as a result.

I’m hoping my libre will stay on long enough to help with levels etc I’ll be sure to take some sugar sweets and different bits just in case.

And sorry to hear about the resistance, I’m t1 and haven’t suffered with it yet luckily but used to keep quite a bad diet, fizzy drinks energy drinks etc and my doctor warned that of I continued I would see some insulin resistance so i stopped immediately!
 
I want to have my level below 10/9 before i start. Then if i run low, towards the end of workout sometimes, I use AA Drink. It is so sweet that it immediately raises your sugar even if you have just a bit. Then afger the workout i eat something properly (egg with bread or a protein shake). Go get ‘m!
 
I workout regularly and I am also a trainer so my first question would be why are you planning to go so often? This is quite a commitment and it could be better to go consistently 2-3 x per week before you build to this intensity unless you've got a deadline that really requires this dedication! Just saying...
What will you be doing there? Resistance work tends to increase bgs whilst slow steady cardio (bike, rower, cross trainer, treadmill walk) will decrease bg. High intensity sprints will likely inrease bg but only temporarily! After the workout the bg can then drop as your muscles try to replenish their glucose (glycogen) supplies so you do need a strategy depending on what you are doing and based on you as an individual. Hopefully you have an fsl or other cgm to easily monitor the trends!
Personally I tend to not eat before a workout unless by bg is below 7 then depending on the goal I;ll either add carbs (if I am not trying to lose fat) or reduce insulin at next meal or just avoid carbs (if trying to lose fat).
 
Take care. If you are doing the type of exercise that raises your levels, starting as high as 9 or 10 can add more stress on your body causing levels to rise further.
 

Thanks Tim that’s really helpful!
 

Hey thanks for the response. The reason for gojng so often is I plan to go during my break at work which is usually between 2-4 in the afternoon, I’ve gained quite a lot of weight since quitting smoking last year and as a result am quite often low on energy. I also plan to see my diabetic doctor for advice on this too.

I’ll be doing a mixture of cardio and weights, nothing too heavy or intense until I’m at a comfortable level, my brother is also a PT and I’ve sought his advice which is similar to yours but without the diabetic knowledge.

I’ve got a libre which is going to help me gauge my levels. Hopefully I can find the right balance .

No deadline I might not even do 5 days it all depends on how I feel but that’s my target.

Thanks again
 
In Response said:
Take care. If you are doing the type of exercise that raises your levels, starting as high as 9 or 10 can add more stress on your body causing levels to rise further.
Click to expand...

I think it’s going to depend what my levels are if they’re what is my usual higher level I will start with some cardio and break myself in gently see how I get on
 
Darion said:
I think it’s going to depend what my levels are if they’re what is my usual higher level I will start with some cardio and break myself in gently see how I get on
Click to expand...
Cardio at high levels can also lead to levels rising further. My advise would be not to start too high. This may vary from person to person so you will need some trial and error to find what works for you.
 
Sounds good and if you also go a bit lower on the carbs you will lose weight plus need a little less basal into the bargain. Lighter weights but high volume plus more intense cardio interludes is a good way to go so best wishes for this exercise project! You can always balance out the more intense days with a swim or yoga/pilates class as mobility is really important too as your brother has probably advised!
 
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