Hi everyone,
Sorry if this has been covered before, but I just wanted a little bit of advice. I’ve been going to the gym 4-5 times per week for the past 3 weeks now. I’m really enjoying it, and my glucose levels have significantly improved! If that’s not motivation to exercise, I dont know what is!
I’ve been doing cardio, mainly classes- aerobics, zumba, dance etc aswell as treadmill, cross trainer, bike, rower etc.
However, I haven’t done any of the weight training yet. I had a meeting with a trainer and was given a routine to follow. That was about a week ago. From what I’ve read on here, I understand that different sorts of exercise have different effects on your glucose level.
I think this is why I am slightly apprehensive about starting with my weight training- i dont know what to expect, and how my body will react to it. I know I need to just do it and I wont know what will happen until I try it! But, some advice on what to expect/how to prepare (differently to if doing cardio, like I’m used to) I think would really help ease my mind, and give me that little push that I need.
Also, what to eat before (if anything) and how to bring my numbers back down after if they are high (what happens if I understand correctly)
At the minute I am not taking my novorapid with lunch/dinner and then working out. This has worked very well for me and brings me to a nice figure afterwards.
I am a big fan of weight training. Aerobic exercise helped me lose weight, but it never made my body leaner (less bodyfat) just smaller. Even the American Diabetes Association has come around to the importance of weight training (they call it resistance training) and have recently made a joint statement with the American College of Sports Medicine. Note, that a key author of the statement is Sheri Colberg who has written extensively about exercise for the diabetic, you can read her website and her book “The Diabetic Athlete’s Handbook.” It turns out that weight training can really help grow your muscles, make your body lean and boost your metabolism. Although you may not technically “lose” weight, often your body markedly shrinks as muscle is much heavier than fat.
Everyone reacts differently to exercise. Personally, my blood sugar rises during weight training. What I have learned is that if I don’t bolus before training, I go high, over 200 mg/dl. Since I still make insulin, I can do things like ending my exercise walking on the treadmill to bring those values down. I have just recently started insulin, so I am still learning. After working out, I have post workout nutrition and bolus for the carbs. But weight training leaves me insulin sensitive and I bolus less than half for my post workout meal. I also have to watch out about 2 hours after workout for hypos.
I would just try it as JohnG says. Next time you are in the gym do some weight circuits and see how you blood sugar reacts in the gym and afterwards. And then just slowly increase the number of exercise, reps and weights.
Grats on your committment to your exercise program! Glad it’s paying off for you.
What to expect? Like John and bsc say, you just have to get started to find out, but bsc pretty much explained what some diebetics can expect. I’m T1, so insulin dosing is definitely one of the keys. I do have a slight increase in BG is response to weightlifting, but nothing dramatic as long as I have IOB and don’t mess with my basal rates. The cardio portion of my workout is much more difficult to deal with, so if you’ve already worked out your BG issues for your cardio, you may not have to adjust anything else for your weights. For myself, I can deal with my BG issues best by doing my cardio first. I’ll usually finish my cardio routine with my BG a bit lower, then jump right into weights which will stabilze my BG then push it up that slight amount to put it back into the normal range without me having to correct with carbs.
Also, it’s not unusual to have hypos a couple of hours after lifting weights, so that’s something to be aware of as you plan your day. I find it easier to just eat a full meal with the appropriate bolus within two hours after lifting.
Other than issues diabetics might face, there are things to expect that anybody starting a new weight routine will go through. Expect some muscle soreness specific to the areas you worked out. It’s completely normal. The soreness will actually increase over the first 48 hours and it’s not unusual to feel worse 2 days after lifting than you did the next day. Some people find it difficult to come back to the same body part even beyond 48 hours, so work through your body part rotation to give each set of muscles plenty of time to recover.
In part, it depends on what type of weight training, but like so much else about D it’s still trial and error as others have said (sick of that answer yet?). Lifting heavy weights will often bring me up ever so slightly, but doing circuit training with lighter weights but more reps and less rest will often drift me down. That drop is not as rapid as with running, but it does drop. Personally, I prefer circuit training but will mix in heavier weights now and then because it’s better at building lean mass.
Your prep for cardio is similar to what I do with mine. But, if you do circuit training after a meal, you may need a little something as I usually do. I reduce the bolus by about 50%, but I still bolus. For heavier weights I might even be tempted to take my usual dose, though I typically do heavier weights spaced apart from meals. Only way to know for sure is to try:)
There is a class at most gyms called Body Pump. It is a great workout and you can start with any weight you like while the person next do you may be lifting 50 pounds. It starts with a warm up and then about 6 minutes of dead lifts, followed by 6 minutes of weighted squats, then clean and presses, chest pressed, tricepts, shoulders, abdominal, lunges and then a yoga type cool down. The class is mostly women but I am seeing more and more men in there lately. Usually when you do weights your body can burn glucose without the necessity of insulin. So if you have a tendency to go low make sure you eat some protein and carbs before your workout. I tend to spike with cardio and stay about the same with weights. But we are all different so bring your meter and a snack in case you need it. Good Luck on your workouts.
