Taekwondo gradings and high blood sugars

Hi Everyone!

I'm interested to know if anyone else on this forum practices a martial art and how they deal with the gradings (or if anyone has any ideas to help!)

In Taekwondo, the gradings are basically around a 2-3hour session where you are called up in groups to be assessed in front of the Grandmaster, the rest of the group grading and your instructors. An assessment involves things like choreographed fighting patterns, sparring drills and free sparring. Though I can keep my Libre and insulin pens etc near me in a bag when I am observing the other groups, there's little time when it would be very possible for me to take injections and sometimes I cannot be near my bag as I'm in the middle of being assessed or we are having a group lesson at the end of the grading. There is often lots of etiquette as well, and though my instructors know I may have to deal with something related to my type 1 diabetes, it still feels a bit taboo to leave the grading room or to stop the Grandmaster while he is giving you a lesson because you feel unwell..
My problem is that the stress of it, alongside having to do quite intense physical exercise, makes my blood sugars go very high and they are very hard to make come down. However, I'm worried if I took too big a correction dose then I may go hypo and that would be worse in this situation (especially, of course, if I am in the middle of my assessment).

I've attached a photo of the morning from a grading I had today which started at 10:00am and finished at 12:30pm

I'm on MDI, so If I increased my basal by the amount necessary I think the rest of the day I would be hypoing a lot. But perhaps a mixture of a higher basal and more aggressive blousing would be the answer? Just interested especially to know if anyone else deals with similar situations where you are assessed on physical activity, away from your kit and feeling stressed!

thanks! x

Mbaker said:

This is tough one for a couple of reasons firstly the fight or flight, I had began a draft response as I still practice Karate everyday (for those who don't know Taekwondo is the Korean version of Japanese / Okinawan Karate). I stopped drafting when thought about your Type 1 circumstances as I do not feel qualified enough to answer. However I saw @Diakat tag, and thought stop being such a wimp.

The difficulty is that our type of martial art taps in the fight of flight system when faced with the challenge of sparing - for example adrenalin will raise (stress), this will lead to increased demand and use of blood sugar (I love a spar it engages so many instinctive systems). It is also an all over body workout covering most muscle groups with the forms (Kata's in Japanese), again these are not as stressful, as the sequences are predefined, but effort is high especially on contraction of muscles.

Every May I have an opportunity to go boot camp for 5 days of 2 x 2 hour sessions per day, I was able to fuel this on 2 meals a day, and the second ,meal always involved 2 significant proteins. That's just me as a Type 2, your concerns I would suggest are more detailed.

Not a direct answer but this response in another thread by @helensaramay is a good place to start as Rugby is extremely explosive at the top level, and cross referencing with the cycling could help with strategies employed for eating and covering with insulin https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/type-1stars-r-us.150597/page-1079#post-21566

Click to expand...

Thank you Mbaker! Definitely agree with you on fight or flight, it can make it very tricky to account for. I will check out the link to threads you've added and I hope your training goes well!!

Juicyj said:

Hello @LilaE As you've rightly pointed out the stress plays an important part in regards to your response with your blood glucose levels, this is quite a difficult aspect of exercise to manage. I've attached here a link to Runsweet which is a diabetes/sports site dedicated to helping people in their associated sport, they have a section on Martial Arts which is quite useful: http://www.runsweet.com/diabetes-and-sport/martial-arts/

My personal approach with any form of exercise is to avoid hypos, this does mean that if necessary I run higher then correct afterwards when my body has relaxed and I am in a better position to manage and control insulin/glucose to remedy. I prefer personally to do it this way as it means I can focus on the exercise without the stress of worrying about an impending hypo. The obvious downside is the effect of hypers on my body, however managing a hypo is more stressful as it means stopping what i'm doing. Hopefully the article will give you some useful pointers to consider with your insulin dosing in regards to this.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this! Definitely helps to know there are others in the same situation. I agree that hypos have a a stronger negative effect on training than a hyper and I also do tend to allow it to run a little high if I am unsure during class then correct afterwards as well. I think hopefully with more gradings, I will become a little less stressed each time and find my blood sugars behave a little better too!