HIIT workouts

[SB.25]

Hi all,

I get married next year so I have started a fitness regime. I am doing HIIT workouts 4-5 times a week which I LOVE.

I am having some problems with managing the diabetes with it though...

During the class I often start at 5 or 6 but after 30 minutes I am 12 - 14. I then come home and inject for dinner on my usual 1:10 ratio and do not correct the high. Usually around midnight - 1am I then have a hypo and treat with a few sweets.

I have tried injecting 1-2 units before the class to try to stop the highs but it makes no difference. So I wonder if I need to up my basal?

I understand from the PTs at the gym that when doing weight work (which we do a lot of) the muscles dump glucose into the system - which is clearly causing the highs.

I wondered if anyone else has managed to curb these highs when training? Or whether I am worrying about nothing? My latest a1c was 50, so I have relatively good control but I really want to get it even lower!

look forward to hearing any tips

 

[Diakat]

I also found HIIT sent me high, Rather than change basal how about trying a different ratio at dinner?

 

[Diakat]

And forgot to say, I hope the wedding goes well!

 

[JohnyT2]

Not sure about how it works for T1, but if you do HIIT workouts, its going to rise the level temporarily and then it will lower it over the period of time. So if you are worried about temporary rise then either replaning your HIIT will help or adapting your body by strengthening core first then going for HIIT will help.

Keep up the efforts, its gonna be good

 

[tomrose]

Hi all,

I get married next year so I have started a fitness regime. I am doing HIIT workouts 4-5 times a week which I LOVE.

I am having some problems with managing the diabetes with it though...

During the class I often start at 5 or 6 but after 30 minutes I am 12 - 14. I then come home and inject for dinner on my usual 1:10 ratio and do not correct the high. Usually around midnight - 1am I then have a hypo and treat with a few sweets.

I have tried injecting 1-2 units before the class to try to stop the highs but it makes no difference. So I wonder if I need to up my basal?

I understand from the PTs at the gym that when doing weight work (which we do a lot of) the muscles dump glucose into the system - which is clearly causing the highs.

I wondered if anyone else has managed to curb these highs when training? Or whether I am worrying about nothing? My latest a1c was 50, so I have relatively good control but I really want to get it even lower!

look forward to hearing any tips

Hello,

I find different types of exercise mess with my numbers in different ways...

HIIT and strength work will stick me up high and then I'll come down sharply a few hours later. Personally, what I've found helps is to do 5-10 mins of cardio at the end of HIIT or strength workouts (I run on a treadmill). This brings me down a bit and then I can adjust the post-workout dose for dinner normally. I'm not sure there is any way to avoid the high if you are doing anaerobic exercise?

However, reading about Henry Slade - he injects at half time during the rugby due to adrenaline - so an extra bolus at some point might work - you would just have to be careful not to send yourself hypo (obvs)!

Best wishes,
Tom

 

[SB.25]

Hello,

I find different types of exercise mess with my numbers in different ways...

HIIT and strength work will stick me up high and then I'll come down sharply a few hours later. Personally, what I've found helps is to do 5-10 mins of cardio at the end of HIIT or strength workouts (I run on a treadmill). This brings me down a bit and then I can adjust the post-workout dose for dinner normally. I'm not sure there is any way to avoid the high if you are doing anaerobic exercise?

However, reading about Henry Slade - he injects at half time during the rugby due to adrenaline - so an extra bolus at some point might work - you would just have to be careful not to send yourself hypo (obvs)!

Best wishes,
Tom

Thanks for the advice! I never thought of doing cardio after the workout but I think that may work really well for me as cardio sends me down strait away.
I’ll give it a go tonight

 

[SB.25]

I also found HIIT sent me high, Rather than change basal how about trying a different ratio at dinner?

I also found HIIT sent me high, Rather than change basal how about trying a different ratio at dinner?

Hi, I don’t really want to adjust dinner as a hypo as it is a few hours later... I think I’m going to try a 10 minute walk after to bring me down a bit

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @SB.25 Congratulations on your forth coming

If this was me, I would try eating dinner before the HIT workout, inject insulin to cover carbs eaten, then fast during the evening afterwards and of course correct for the high perhaps a fraction less insulin though. It means eating alot earlier, but as your body is recovering and the muscles are restocking from your glucose then it could help you manage against running low, the issue with exercise, insulin and glucose is that if you have active insulin on board at bedtime it's harder to monitor this unless you're on a CGM.

I run on a Monday night about 7-8km and find it's an art to manage my glucose levels, I have to turn my pump down 1 hour before going out, I eat protein supper so less insulin and nothing afterwards, I tend to run low to 4 mmol/l whilst out running go high afterwards so when I stop running I take a correction then I run low during the night, last night I finally avoided going hypo in my sleep for the first time but I now keep a diary on how to manage it as your insulin/exercise profile is unique to your needs, what I do might not work for someone else.

 

[SB.25]

Hi @SB.25 Congratulations on your forth coming

If this was me, I would try eat dinner before the HIT workout, inject insulin to cover carbs eaten, then fast during the evening afterwards and of course correct for the high perhaps a fraction less insulin though. It means eating alot earlier, but as your body is recovering and the muscles are restocking from your glucose then it could help you manage against running low, the issue with exercise, insulin and glucose is that if you have active insulin on board at bedtime it's harder to monitor this unless you're on a CGM.

I run on a Monday night about 7-8km and find it's an art to manage my glucose levels, I have to turn my pump down 1 hour before going out, I eat protein supper so less insulin and nothing afterwards, I tend to run low to 4 mmol/l whilst out running go high afterwards so when I stop running I take a correction then I run low during the night, last night I finally avoided going hypo in my sleep for the first time but I now keep a diary on how to manage it as your insulin/exercise profile is unique to your needs, what I do might not work for someone else.

thank you for the detailed response!

I can’t eat dinner before my class unfortunately as the class is at 7 and I don’t finish work until half 5!

Tonight was a bit of a disaster as I had a hypo before the class so ended up treating and going even higher than normal lol!

Perhaps practice makes perfect and one day I will be able to not go high or low around exercise lol!

I do have a CGM (libre) - my concern about that at the moment is where to wear it on the big day.......

 

[Juicyj]

Know what that feels like, I was almost hypo before my run last week, felt like bailing it, but gulped the glucotabs down and went for it, I always carry glucose wherever I go, so prepared.

Can you take a supper with you to eat at work ?

The Libre can be worn on multiple areas, have heard chests, stomach, thighs as alternative areas, it can be discretely hidden depending on your dress, where there's a will there's a way as I say

 

[LittleGreyCat]

<snip>

I understand from the PTs at the gym that when doing weight work (which we do a lot of) the muscles dump glucose into the system - which is clearly causing the highs.

<snip>

This doesn't seem right to me.
The muscles will be using stored glucose then looking for more glucose from the blood stream, not throwing perfectly good glucose away.

Glucose dumps normally come from the liver, if I understand correctly.[/QUOTE]

 

[SB.25]

Know what that feels like, I was almost hypo before my run last week, felt like bailing it, but gulped the glucotabs down and went for it, I always carry glucose wherever I go, so prepared.

Can you take a supper with you to eat at work ?

The Libre can be worn on multiple areas, have heard chests, stomach, thighs as alternative areas, it can be discretely hidden depending on your dress, where there's a will there's a way as I say

it would be difficult to have a supper at work as I have to drive half hour from work to the gym so not sure I would have time by the time I’ve walked to the car pens each end and got changed etc!

yes today I was gulping back jelly babies before the class - with people looking at me like I was crazy .

I think I need to experiment with different placements for the wedding dress or just go without for the day.... but then I have major anxiety that I will have a bleeder and get blood on the dress. You can’t win lol!

 

[SB.25]

This doesn't seem right to me.
The muscles will be using stored glucose then looking for more glucose from the blood stream, not throwing perfectly good glucose away.

Glucose dumps normally come from the liver, if I understand correctly.

[/QUOTE]
Not sure.....

all I know is that as soon as I do any form of weights my levels shoot up...... it seems others have this issue too. Have you ever tested when doing weights?

 

[jrw2007]

This doesn't seem right to me.
The muscles will be using stored glucose then looking for more glucose from the blood stream, not throwing perfectly good glucose away.

Glucose dumps normally come from the liver, if I understand correctly.

[/QUOTE]
Correct, skeletal muscle cannot directly put glucose into the blood stream - that is a function of the liver.

 

[Juicyj]

Different exercise produces different reactions so high intensity workouts can push levels up as the body produces hormones as well as glucose in response. Runsweet.com is a useful site for insulin dependent diabetics.

Personally I find it easier to run in the morning vs night time as I am more insulin resistant in the morning so levels stay stable whereas at night time I am much more sensitive to insulin so try to ensure I don’t have any active insulin on board which is why having food helps to keep my levels up.

 

[tomrose]

Thanks for the advice! I never thought of doing cardio after the workout but I think that may work really well for me as cardio sends me down strait away.
I’ll give it a go tonight

I know it might seem like yet more exercise but it might help a bit.

In regards to some of the discussions about why your blood sugar spikes, this is interesting: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769951/

This is a good summary paragraph I think, but it's definitely worth a read:
Anaerobic exercise, on the other hand, frequently causes increases in blood glucose levels in persons with type 1 diabetes because of elevations in catecholamine levels that are not offset by an increase in insulin availability. Exercise-induced hyperglycemia may last for hours after the end of the activity and can compromise overall glycemic control and subsequent exercise performance. Corrective measures for exercise-induced hyperglycemia usually requires additional insulin, however, guidelines are not currently available to assist patients, and the risk for postexercise, late-onset hypoglycemia increases if too much insulin is administered. In reality, many sporting activities are a combination of both aerobic and anaerobic phases, making blood glucose control in active individuals with type 1 diabetes particularly challenging For some, just the anticipatory stress of competition can cause hyperglycemia.

As with most type 1 things - its a nightmare!
Tom

 

[KK123]

Hi all,

I get married next year so I have started a fitness regime. I am doing HIIT workouts 4-5 times a week which I LOVE.

I am having some problems with managing the diabetes with it though...

During the class I often start at 5 or 6 but after 30 minutes I am 12 - 14. I then come home and inject for dinner on my usual 1:10 ratio and do not correct the high. Usually around midnight - 1am I then have a hypo and treat with a few sweets.

I have tried injecting 1-2 units before the class to try to stop the highs but it makes no difference. So I wonder if I need to up my basal?

I understand from the PTs at the gym that when doing weight work (which we do a lot of) the muscles dump glucose into the system - which is clearly causing the highs.

I wondered if anyone else has managed to curb these highs when training? Or whether I am worrying about nothing? My latest a1c was 50, so I have relatively good control but I really want to get it even lower!

look forward to hearing any tips

Hi SB, I wonder, after your rise to 12/14, does it come down fairly quickly after that? I would try eating a low carb/no carb meal for your dinner after this type of workout so that you don't need to inject any insulin or just a small amount etc, this might offset the inevitability of the exercise taking you low for up to 24 hours afterwards (in my case) and stop you going hypo because of the exercise itself along with however many units of insulin you are taking with that evening meal? Hope that makes sense. x

 

[SB.25]

I seem to have made progress with the gym and my levels! I have been taking 2 units of humalog just before my HIIT workouts. Since doing this, I have not gone before 10 during the workout - woohoo!

Now just to work our the post workout hypos that occur during the middle of the night.... think I’m going to try eating slightly more after the gym!

Thanks everyone for their tips and tricks!