Hello All. I'm currently experimenting with P90X, Insanity and several different workout programs. For months my blood sugars raise sharply when performing these. Even weight lifting but not to same level as a all intense exercise. I'm curious how many of you manage to perform highly intense exercises while managing your BGs. I can be normal and see spikes after working out for 30 minutes of 100 to 150 points sometimes more. It seems very difficult to bring down and take hours. In the beginning I just thought I was having generic management issues. Now I know it is related to exercise.
What are your experiences? Should diabetics stay away from these exercises? I love lifting weights and the new intense regimes. If not, what are some of the ways you can manage and prevent the highs? I heard of diabetics giving themselves boluses before exercises. Seems very scary but maybe the new reality.
Normally, I would go hypo with exercise but just would be for generic cardio. I would eat a snack before this type of exercise.
I've done P90X too, it was to get fit and strong for backcountry snowboard trip. It did the job well. There are many videos in the set and I would expect my BG to maybe go up or down a bit differently depending on which one it is. I didn't get a huge jump in BG in the one I was doing, I think it was Plyometrics. There is plenty of information about when the body releases glycogen for exercise which raises blood sugar.
For me I will not exercise if I have a bolus on board greater than a specific number. A little is ok for me but its only a little. I find I get more consistent reactions to exercise in the morning before eating. I recently did a set of running stress tests and each time my BG went up, however when I cycle and my heart rate is high for a similar time period it tends not to. I think this is because while the time at a high heart rate is similar there are long periods riding at a lower heart rate too.
Maybe try combining the type of exercise between cardio and P90X or see if you get different results based on which P90X workout. Also maybe look at the length of time the workout lasts. Might find a better response doing the workout twice.
This is probably not recommended - - -- but for me I found that the rise was due to stress hormones causing a liver glucose release when I did high intensity or heavy weights. I would usually work out in evening, and if I had a glass of wine before, I did not get the spike. Seems the liver can only do on thing at a time and removing alcohol is first priority. By the time wine was gone the hormone spike was over as well.
Can't over do it while lifting heavy, but it was an interesting "experiment".
Since you seem to know how your body reacts to this particular exercise, you might want to consider doing a temp basal for 30 minutes to an hour after. Possibly as much as 150% of normal considering the very large jumps. Having tighter control post-workout can help you have tighter control later as well.
I often have to do a temp basal at 80% or even as low as 50% after I exercise to keep from going low. It helps me keep the control.
I did P90X as part of training (used to swim competitively). I found after extremely hard practices, my blood sugar would jump (as you described) and then come crashing down roughly 12 hours later.
Let me know if you find a solution that works--I'm still trying to find it!
Some things that help:
Drink a ton of water before, during, and after. Drink about double what you think you need. Being dehydrated, even if you don't feel thirsty, can raise your blood sugar. I found I got more consistent results when I drank at least a full bottle of water before starting.
It sounds like you are on the pump, but injecting into the muscles that you are exercising can throw off your numbers. If your pump site is in your stomach, and you're doing p90x ab ripper, this might be part of the problem.
Let me know if you discover suggestions that work!
It has been many years since I did anything like this but I never corrected for a BG rise caused buy exercise, your body will start storing sugar back into your cells in a few hours after the work out, and maybe again around 7-8 hours, and somtines again around the 12 hour mark. Anytime you rapidly squeeze sugar out of your mussels your body will have to store it back at some point. If you are looking to keep your BG stable all the time then you will have to give up the high impact workouts. I do not believe high BG during exercise is causing much cell damage, it's just extra BG in the blood I don't believe it's over loading the cells in your body and causing much damage...JMHO
omg! I thought I was the only one!! Me too!! I am currently doing T25! I actually had to raise my basal rates for 3 hrs post exercise. Not my goal. But, ever since doing so, my bgs have been FANTASTIC. I am a type 1, on a pump and some other meds. I could not understand y this was happening to me! I asked the endo and he was like "well, some people react differently to exercise", well, apparently, it's more that just some! I'm so happy I found this place! I just finished T25 Alpha phase, I did 2 rounds. Now, I am going to start the Beta phase. I did this last year and got great results! Can't wait to see where I am in another 5 weeks! Best of luck!
