Question 2 today - exercising

My chosen form of exercise is walking 2x 40 min walks per day if possible plus 2/3 1.5 hr walks weekly I also move as much as possible running up & down stairs at home ( I'm retired) this has a very beneficial effect on my BG levels. My levels drop 1.5-2 points after a long walk. I've noticed that many of the posters on here who have the opposite result have been doing hard aerobic exercise e.g at the gym. Just my observations. Good luck with finding something that works for you

ExChocoholic said:

To try and help my newly raised blood sugar levels return to acceptable levels and in combination with low carb diet I have been exercising fairly moderately with my personalised wii fit - but now I read exercise can raise blood sugars - surely this is short term and long term helps lower - or not? I find it hard to believe exercise is not helping? Do others have knowledge or experience in this matter please?

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Hi - exercise requires muscles to move and that requires glucose - so exercising will cause glucose to enter into your blood - depending on the intensity and duration, the liver will convert glycogen into glucose and send it to the muscles.
Exercising will help you manage your blood sugar levels overall, but whilst exercising it will be raised.

The same happens with the heart beat. Exercising lowers your resting heart beat but for that to happen, your heart beat has to be accelerated during exercise.
T2 Oct 15, diet metformin and exercise - and I'm a graduate biologist

My exercise routine is walking. 2x20 minute dog walks a day. The only strenuous exercise I do is cleaning windows in the house!
I do walk up and down the stairs many times a day as my office is upstairs.
However, these activities always raise my levels. I never see a drop. The best result is I stay the same.
Just shows how different we all are.

ExChocoholic said:

but now I read exercise can raise blood sugars

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Not once has this happened for me ... mine drop big time. Maybe 2 or 3 after 20 minutes walking if they were running in the 7s.

As @Bluetit1802 said, we are indeed different.

I normally find I have a minor drop say .5 mmol or it stays the same, however in the hours post excercise once I have eaten they drop like a stone.

My excercise is a gym workout, followed by an Aqua Class or a 40 minute gentle swim 5 days a week And an Aqua class only one day a week.

I personally find that on my non excercise day a week my levels stay. Pretty stable but do not reach the lower levels I get to after excercise.

As said above we are all different.

Lindy1706 said:

As said above we are all different.

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Not only that, but we all exercise differently too.

There are too many variables to consider, but the biggest one for me is the intensity of the exercise I'm doing and how quick I ramp up that intensity.

Walking has little to no effect on my levels because it doesn't require a lot of effort or calories so my body doesn't see a need to increase my energy (glucose) levels.
However, if I go for a run my body interprets that as a sudden need for energy and it will increase my blood glucose levels.
I can manipulate this a bit by gradually building up my intensity.

Think of it this way: it's essentially a human survival adaptation. Thousands of years ago, we had to hunt for our food, or occasionally run away to avoid becoming food. Consequently, we needed readily available energy to be able to perform either activity. That's the basic concept behind whether or not our livers release glucose rapidly or gradually.

As an example my Fasting BS was 7.0 this morning, I ate 2 boiled eggs And then did a 45 minute workout (enough to get a **** good sweat up) I then went into an Aqua class for 45 mins.

Came Home And tested at 6.6, ate a Mozzarella, tomato And basil salad with a good glug of olive oil at 13:30

Just tested at 15:30 And I am 5.0

I will now Bobble around the high 4's And low 5's for the rest of the day., on no excercise days I Bobble around mid - high 5's or low 6's.

My body obviously likes excercise....who knew!

Hi ExChocoholic yes indeed Aqua is good old Aqua Aerobics. I really enjoy it and it is good for all ages, our class has people in their 80's to youngsters And its fun!

I was diagnosed on the 15th March after a blood test on the 3rd March showing my HbA1c to be 118 And my fasting BS 17.8....my reaction to this was "ok lifestyle change" And I started a strict LCHF And joined the local spa pretty much straight away.

Feeling good, weight is dropping off and most importantly BS are in normal ranges a lot of the time, my last weekly average reading was 5.7. I have just tested now at 4.6.

I know that some people do spike with exercise , so all you can do is test before And after activity And see where you are.

Good luck!

Think that it is the intensity of the exercise that makes a difference. Often steady exercise has a different impact than intense.

Some high intensity resistance stuff is supposed to be very good for us, but it is not something I do often.

For me, dog walks, even hill walking (which about all I do) has only one effect - my bg drops from its usual home in the 6s down to 5.1-5.3mmol/l and stays there. The longer and more intense the exercise, the longer it stays in the low 5s.

A few hours on the Pennine way saw my bg stay down for 8 hours.
A normal 1 hr dog walk in the park/beach flat ground will see it bob back up after an hour or so.

Food will, of course impact this.

I tend not to hypo from expected/planned exercise, but stressed exercise (the time I had to run down a lane to flag down an ambulance) saw me hypoing quite impressively. Most T2s don't hypo. I am a special little snowflake - so don't let the thought of hypos put you off!