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Sugar and Exercise

A

alyssarose

Member
I do training for Rowing and I sometimes go running, and I am finding it very difficult to control my blood sugar levels afterwards, as I have no idea how fast my levels go down afterwards. I am getting better at controlling it during exercise, but I am still often having hypo's afterwards. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of healthy snacks that are good for after exercise. Thanks xx
 
Alyssa, are you replacing carbs after rowing? You continue to be more insulin sensitive after the exercise has finished from what I have read so you may need more than you think. I find dates work very well for me.

One thing that may be worth doing is talking to a specialist dietician if you can find one, who works with athletes as our needs are somewhat different to the general population, there's a good one at Addenbookes who's given me some great advice.

I'm playing around with reducing doses before longer sessions and have also reduced my night time levemir as I was consistently waking up with BG in the low 4s or even below 4.
 
When I had my first race after my diagnoses I reduced my insulin beforehand, but since I don't know how intense my training will be, I can't reduce my insulin just in case, so I rely on sugar to keep my BG up. I normally have a sandwich or a banana afterwards, and it's still not enough if I have a really intense work-out because rowing, from my experience, burns more sugar than running does. I was wondering if anyone could recommend specific snacks that may help me with this, because obviously I don't enjoy going hypo but I do enjoy food! :)
 
alyssarose said:
When I had my first race after my diagnoses I reduced my insulin beforehand, but since I don't know how intense my training will be, I can't reduce my insulin just in case, so I rely on sugar to keep my BG up. I normally have a sandwich or a banana afterwards, and it's still not enough if I have a really intense work-out because rowing, from my experience, burns more sugar than running does. I was wondering if anyone could recommend specific snacks that may help me with this, because obviously I don't enjoy going hypo but I do enjoy food! :)
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You surely have some idea what your training will consist of ? Approx 60mins ? sprints ? cardio or fat burn ? I think your best bet would be to reduce insulin prior to exercise. Start by a small amount, test often and see how your body reacts. It's better to prevent the hypo rather than reacting to it. You'll soon get a good idea of how your blood sugars react to various workouts/training sessions.
 
I don't do much erging these days (used to do a fair bit), but I do a good amount of running and cycling and have a good idea of the energy needs to each and to be honest they are pretty comparable. Duration and intensity are also key.

Today as an example, 30km/3hrs running at pretty near my max aerobic level, so burning a mix of both fats and carbs and I've ingested 325g carbs so far today.

Tuesday was a cycling club TT, high intensity and over in half an hour. TOtal carbs ingested 180g. I've actually seen my BG rise after a TT due to the shunt from the liver caused by the adrenaline.

Have you read the Diabetic Athletes Handbook, written by a diabetic doctor? A bit noddy in it's basic physiology, Noakes and others in Lore of Running are much better, but has some good sports specific stuff. I've also got a copy of Handbook of Exercise in Diabetes on order, by the ADA.

Personally here I don't think you can do enough research and also testing yourself frequently during your training. I'm testing every 30 mins or so at the moment to get a picture of how my levels vary and also afterwards.

You don't say what you are taking in during a session?
 
I take lucozade during training, maybe dextro tablets. I should have mentioned that I row on the water and want a complex carb for immediately after I finish my training because rowing takes a lot of energy. I normally only do intense workouts for about half an hour, because I can't take loads of sugar in the boat with me, and taking about 30 carbs before and during, and a banana after, but it's not enough.
 
Exactly, you need to experiment with all your various training sessions. For the light training, reduce insulin by very little, for more intense sessions, reduce a little more. As long as you test before and after each session, you'll soon get the dose right. This way, you prevent the hypo rather than treating it.


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Hi ,
I was told by my DSN that exercise effects can remain in your system for up to 24 hours so you'll need to stock up on carbs.
 
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