Has anybody done ‘7 minute workout challenge’?

Hi guys/girls, has anybody done the 7 min workout challenge app at all? It’s an app on my phone and I occasionally do it. It’s basically core workout with pushups planks etc etc. The beauty is it only takes 7 mins. It really helps for someone like me who hasn’t got time for gym.

Earlier this evening, we were going out for a meal but my little one fell asleep in the car so we decided to come back home for dinner - haven’t got a great selection of food available at home. My hubby made up of something like fried rice cake with prawns and celery. I had all the prawns and the celery but had a little bit of rice cake (it’s Chinese basically starch from glutinous rice flour - I know it’s sin for someone on low carb diet). It was so tempting I had a few pieces I think about 30grams which will have 15grams carbs). I also had a piece of dark chocolate. I was expecting a high number in the 8’s or high 7’s when testing two hour later. But it was only 5.7. How was that possible? I’ve never had after meal results below 6 before!

I’m thinking it must be the workout that lowered blood glucose. Interesting as I had been for a 50 mins run and the blood was 8.0 although I did have an apple before the run. It’s all very confusing! I shall do more tests from now before and after each exercise to see which one is more effective. Maybe the short core workout didn’t trigger my liver to release sugar but the long run did?

Any opinions? Shall I stick to the 7 mins workout after meal and do a long run only occasionally?

Update -
Ate about 20g of carb for lunch.
1 hour later BG 7.2
Did 7 mins workout challenge BG 5.7
2 hour after meal BG 6.0

So the benefit of short and intense exercise after meal is obvious to me. What’s not so obvious is the slight increase about 45 mins after the excercise. But I could possibly put that down to equipment error so not too much to be read there.

I’ll try and test before and after a slow long run next.

NicoleC1971 said:

7 minutes intense is a great way to lower bgs in the long term though you may find a spike in the short term which is yur liver responding to the hormones you've released via the activity. It is a great contrast to a long walk or run.
At my ma in laws I run up their drive x 10 and add in burpees, press ups, squat or lunges (cruches if its not raining). Currently have major frozen shoulder which is keeping me out the gym and your post is making me want to get back into it.
There is definitely no such thing as 'no time' for exercise!

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience.

You are right it’s great contrast to long runs/walks. I guess the best thing is just to do both.

In my mind the short intense core work is a bit like a resistance training. I’ve noticed my strength has increased a lot recently. I put that down to higher protein intake with the low carb diet.

For example I could never have done a proper press-up in my whole life. I have very weak and tiny arms. However recently in the last few days I can add one full press-up in my knee-down version. In the half minute session for press-ups I used to do 14 knee version now I can do 20 including one full version. I’ve been doing this workout programme for years and never managed to see such big improvement.
You’ve encouraged me to stick to it.

Any exercise is better than no exercise!

Here is another experiment result -

Had ~20g carb in lunch
Measured BG 7.7 1 hour later
Went for a 30min comfortable run (slightly sweating) BG 4.9
Half hour later (2 hours after meal) BG 5.2

So if I ignored the small rebounce or overshoot I get a BG reduction of 2.5 after a 30 mins run. So it shows even more benefit than the 7 mins workout. Nevertheless both gave great results!

Next time I shall try running before meal and measure before and after run.

So is it better to eat carb and burn it off through exercising or not to eat carb at all (or even lower carb)?

Did a 10k race this morning but didn’t have the chance to test before hand but it was 3 hours after a low carb breakfast so I expected it to be relatively low ~6ish based on past data. After the race it was 8.1.

So it is true that a long and strenuous workout can increase blood glucose. I learned that from members on this great forum already so wasn’t shocked.

However after dinner including 50g white rice I saw a new low of 5.4 and I was shocked - in a good way

So it looks like even the long run increases my BG at the time, it helped my BG later in the day. Great to know that there is still benefit. Now I feel that I can just workout whenever I want to and they’ll all be beneficial. Hooray!

Just to record this so I don’t forget.
Ran 40 mins hill rep yesterday before lunch. Prior BG was <5.4 and after was 6.5. So another moderate increase in BG when exercising before meal.
BG after dinner was 5.8 and this morning fasting BG was a new low 4.6. Not sure the low fasting was a result of the exercise but it’s moving the right way!

Ran first thing in the morning on Sunday without even a sip of water (I know it’s bad). After run BG was 5.1.
Did 7 min workout challenge after a 40g carb dinner. 2 hour after meal BG was 7.4
Ran today after a 20g carb lunch. 2 hour BG was 4.4.
Overall I think running is more effective than 7 mins. But 7 min can be a quick fix after a high carb meal if time is not available for a run.

NicoleC1971 said:

7 min thing is supposed to be done at high intensity and high intensity can often temporarily raise bgs. You are right that low intensity but long endurance run/cycle etc. (anything sustained over 15 minutes) is going to drop you but this has to be compared with the benefits that HIIt brings namely less fat, more muscle and greater insulin sensitivity, better heart health. Personally I'd go for a balance of the 2 plus some weights/stretching....
Of course I accept that some people love running! You seem to be winning either way in terms of bg control so I am just chipping in with an overall fitness/health perspective!

Click to expand...

When I ran 10K in 52 mins with a PB it definitely temporarily raised my BG. However whenever I kept it within half hour it always reduced BG whether it’s intensive interval run or slow jog. I do 7 mins very intensively - at least I’m out of breath by the end of it. However it hasn’t triggered my body to increase BG. Maybe because I do it after a meal so there’s sugar already. Or perhaps it’s such a short time my body hasn’t had the chance to release sugar yet

Definitely agree with keeping a balance of two. I’m not a fan of weights to be honest. I can try whether I can develop to be more tolerant of it.

However one thing I do seriously wonder is which of the following two approaches is better ( in terms of Insulin sensitivity):
1. Eat less carbs and achieve the target BG.
2. Eat slightly more carbs and exercise and still achieve the same target of BG.
Not sure which one could increase insulin sensitivity. I’m sure exercise has other health benefits but just wonder whether it’s better to stick to lower carb for insulin sensitivity thing. Do you have any knowledge/ experience on this?

NicoleC1971 said:

Personally I try to stick to 1! Eating less than 30g per meal is my new target based on Adam Brown's recommendations in Bright Spots and Landmines. Makes me stop at 1 slice of bread if I really fancy it. Normally stick to no starchy carbs because the bgs are too unpredictable otherwise given I tend not to do same things at same times after the same meals.
If I did eat more carbs and run it off afterwards that would be tricky for me as once I spike my bg it is hard to get down and risks over dosing on insulin and is difficult to time correctly but for a type 2 it work well or a type 1 who knows exactly how their body responds to exercise and lives a very routine focused life maybe.
I think the exception to this would be someone who finds it hard to stop at 1 slice' Hello carb addicts!!

Click to expand...

I understand you prefer to stick to 1 because of the difficulty in controlling BG with your type 1.

For me, I want to do the best to reduce my insulin resistance while I’m still prediabetic (I think pre type 2).

I’m not so called carb addict but do enjoy carbs. The main thing is I want to all I can to try and “reverse” diabetes if possible at all. I heard that you CAN reverse while in prediabetic range. But not sure what’s the best way though - eat less or exercise more. While both can achieve the same BG in the short term, there might be a winner in the long term. Or maybe it doesn’t matter that much. Who knows!

NicoleC1971 said:

It is a false dichotomy! You will have the most impact with eat more quality fat and protein but less carbs AND exercise after meals /do weights. The Eat Less, Move more puts the emphasis on calories and sounds sensible but doesn't work for most people in the long run.
The term ' carb addict' was a bit dramatic - sorry! I meant that many of us like and take comfort in eating starchy foods but are not well suited to them plus they have little nutritional benefit and have a tendency to become diabetic hence the need for a mindset shift when eating the standard Western diet which is carb heavy e.g. cereal at breakfast, bread for lunch and pasta/rice with our evening meal etc.

Click to expand...

I take your point - it’s probably doing both (less carb and more exercise) that gives the best result. Surprise surprise! I was kind of hoping I could get away with eating slightly more carb but exercise to burn them off. I guess the safest way is to do both. I’m going to carry on “eating to my meter” and now maybe “exercising to my meter” too.

Don’t worry about the carb addict joke - I’m slightly guilty of eating fat too much carb in the first place so would probably classify as a carb addict.