Workout Wednesday with SweatBetes

Healthy Living Physical Activity
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Have you heard of SweatBetes? It's a series of exercise videos produced by Ginger Vieira of Living in Progress. She produced them specifically for people living with diabetes.

Developing a regular exercise habit continues to be a challenge for me, so I decided to try out the SweatBetes videos and see if they can help me. Ginger, a certified personal trainer and person living with Type 1 diabetes, will be helping me along the way by answering some questions and sharing her insights here in this forum. Join the conversation by posting a comment or a question.

Let's start with the Introduction video.

Corinna: Okay Ginger, I’ve decided to try using SweatBetes to add some exercise to my routine.

I have to say, I’m more than a little overwhelmed. There are four different exercise videos and an introduction. And I truly am a beginner. I know that there are exercises in these videos that I cannot do right now. Where should I start?

Ginger: Great question! If I were you, I’d pick any one of the four videos and do just that video on one day. For instance, choose the “bodyweight workout” on Monday, take a few days to recover, then try the “ab workout” on Wednesday or Thursday, then the “beginner’s yoga” on Friday, and the “dumbbell workout” on Sunday or Monday of the following week. Spread them out, and take your time!

It also comes down to how much time you have and what your level of fitness is. If you’re looking to spend a full hour exercising, then you could easily fit two or three of the videos into one day’s workout! For instance, the “ab workout” combined with the “bodyweight workout” and the “dumbbell workout” would give you a very intense 55 minutes of exercise! On the other hand, you might only have 30 minutes to exercise, so you could do just the 30-minute “beginner’s yoga” or you could combine the “dumbbell workout” with the “ab workout.” You choose!

Meanwhile, if you feel like you’re unable to do a specific exercise, you should always feel free to adjust it a bit for your needs. For example, if doing a lunge all the way to the ground is too difficult, then you can either slow down and just do 4 or 5 full lunges or be very conscientious about what depth you can go to while still maintaining good form.

Corinna: I get what you say in the introduction about making exercise into a science experiment. Measure my BG before, halfway through, and at the end of exercising. Keep track of the results. I shouldn’t exercise if my BG starts out at or above 180.

But I’m living with Type 2, so the advice to bolus doesn’t work for me. What should I do if I find that my BG is dropping too low or going too high in the middle of exercise?

Ginger: For people living with Type 2 who aren’t on supplemental insulin, low blood sugars don’t tend to be as common or as problematic. That being said, anyone who feels light-headed or dizzy during a workout could be experiencing a low blood sugar and should stop, check their blood sugar, consume carbohydrates if they’re low, and only begin exercising again if or when they feel better. Some Type 2s may find that their efforts to increase their own sensitivity to insulin and lower their blood sugars through diet and exercise means that they may need less medications or less insulin! If you’re constantly experiencing low blood sugars, during or not during exercise, then you might want to talk to your doctor about reducing your medications.

The video explains that while you certainly can exercise with a blood sugar over 180, that isn’t the goal. The reason I explain this is because many Type 1 diabetics feel as though they only way they can exercise without dropping low is by purposefully putting their blood sugar up above 180 mg/dL, but for long-term results, this isn’t ideal because your body won’t burn body fat effectively and your muscles won’t perform effectively! The whole system is effected.

For a Type 2, however, whose blood sugars might be above 180 mg/dL often as they work on increasing their sensitivity to their own insulin, getting more exercise can help lower their blood sugars. Above all, a blood sugar reading between 180 mg/dL and 250 mg/dL shouldn’t keep anyone from exercising as long as they don’t have ketones. Anything over 250 mg/dL during exercise can easily lead to ketones and therefore isn’t safe.

Corinna: You say these exercises are anaerobic, not aerobic. Don’t I need both kinds of exercise to be healthy? Should I add some aerobic activity to balance things out?

Ginger: Absolutely! The best form of aerobic exercise, especially for a beginner, is walking! Getting aerobic exercise through machines at the gym or walking or jogging is relatively easy, and most people tend to get far more aerobic exercise than anaerobic – which is why these videos are designed to offer more anaerobic options.

Anaerobic exercise is also important for building and maintaining strong bones and muscle tissue.

A great way to balance the whole picture for a beginner might look like this:

  • Monday: 20-minute bodyweight strength & 15 minutes of walking
  • Tuesday: 30-minute beginner’s yoga
  • Wednesday: 15-minute ab workout & 30 minutes of walking
  • Thursday: 30 to 45 minutes of walking
  • Friday: 20-minute dumbbell strength & 20 minutes of walking

Remember, everyone comes to this with different levels of fitness. There’s no way I can prescribe a fitness plan that fits for everyone because we all have different needs, different backgrounds, and different limits.

Think about your goals, how conditioned you already are, and what you can reasonably fit into your life. It’s always okay to start gradually! For some people, that means 15 to 20 minutes exercise every day. For others, it might mean 45 to 60 minutes of exercise. Listen to your body and be patient with your progress.

Corinna: I know with aerobic exercise I can measure my effort by measuring by heart rate. Is there a way to measure my effort while doing anaerobic exercise? How do I know I’m doing it right or hard enough to get results?

Ginger: Heart rate during anaerobic can be an important sign of exertion, because just like aerobic, during an intense anaerobic workout your heart rate ought to rise. However, unlike aerobic exercise, your heart should come down naturally between each exercise in the workout. That constant “up and down” of the heart rate is part of what allows the body to actually burn more body fat during anaerobic types of exercise, compared to aerobic which burns more glucose because your heart rate is constantly “up.” Many people assume, for example, that sprinting is aerobic because it’s running, but during a sprinting workout your heart rate is only up for a short period of time, then it comes back down, then you sprint again, etc. Sprinting is actually an anaerobic form of exercise. That’s the simplest way to explain it! ;)

Corinna: If anaerobic exercise is burning calories and building stronger muscle, should I feel sore after doing these exercises?

Ginger: You might. And if you’re new to doing these types of exercise, you probably will feel sore! Soreness is not a bad thing. If you’re a newbie, you can expect to feel sore for several days after your first workout, and the best thing to do for that soreness is go for a walk, warm the muscles up and get the blood flowing!

Getting used to and appreciating your hard work through that initial soreness is a mindset. It’s a choice. Some people let that soreness deter them from exercising again, but others work through it and get to the point where the soreness just isn’t so sore! It takes time, determination, and commitment! Embrace it!

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I’ll be trying out the SweatBetes videos and checking in with Ginger over the next five weeks here on TuDiabetes.

We invite you to join the conversation by posting a comment or a question.

If you want to get your own copy of the SweatBetes videos, they are available for download at the bargain price of $5 from http://living-in-progress.com/downloads/sweatbetes-video-pack/. All proceeds go to support the Big Blue Test, a program of the Diabetes Hands Foundation.

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62 views and no comments!? If you are not exercising, these appear to be an *excellent* way to start! If you are walking and want to try something new, adding strength training will certainly make the walking feel different.

Starting to exercise, *very* slowly when I was 37, has improved my life a lot and my control of my diabetes as well. It was a huge motivator to get a pump, see where diabetes management had come since 1984 (I was sort of doing carb counting, just without counting, SWAGing all over the place...) and have gotten the hang of it. I might have done ok w/o exercising but thinking "I'm going to work out after work, how is my BG at 3:00 so I will be able to play when 'recess' starts at 5:30!?" is a big part of whatever successes I've had with diabetes. This is a good deal and will help the BBT program which is coming up soon!!

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Now 73 views! I totally back Acid on exercise's role in feeling good all around.
Ginger's program sounds like a great, sensible start. She is a wonderful advocate/resource for PWD, fitness, and taking control of our health. Her SweatBetes series would be a great resource for CDEs to check out--and recommend to their clients.

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Mike! I love your story -- it's such a great example of how being an athlete or being active doesn't mean you have to have been born with some athletic inclination. I really wasn't very active myself until I was in college. I tried so many sports but never enjoyed most of them until I found yoga and weight-lifting!

And you're so right about how exercising motivates extra attention to blood sugars!

Thanks for reading, my friend!

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THanks for reading, Deborah! I certainly hope more CDEs feel comfortable recommending SweatBetes --- for the average person who doesn't have a gym membership, isn't sure what to do in a gym, or feels overwhelmed by more commercial-type workouts, SweatBetes is designed to be approachable and gradual! Thanks for reading! ;)

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Acid & Deborah -- Thanks for your words of encouragement.

Ginger and I would love to hear from other folks about how exercise is (or isn't) a part of their lives.

This week I am working through the body weight video of SweatBetes. So far I've managed to avoid being sore after. Oh crud, I probably just jinxed it. At any rate, I'll post the next installment of Ginger's and my Q&A on Wednesday.

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I have had type 2 for 20 years,no complications. I say this is due to exercise. I do water aerobics,walking, and on days I can’t get out I have DVD’s , exercise bike and hand weights. I am very proud of my biceps, LOL. I just love being active! Nancy

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20 years w/o complications! Congrats to you, Nancy. That's very encouraging.

Is exercise something you've always done or did you have to develop the habit? What hints do you have for someone (like me) who is trying to develop the exercise habit?

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In this second installment of postings about SweatBetes exercise videos for people with diabetes, Ginger Vieira and I talk about my first attempt at using the body weight video.

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I decided to start out with the body weight video. Silly me, I thought it might be easier because it doesn’t involve any extras like dumbbells. All I have to do is move my body. I combined it with 15 minutes on a stationary bike so I got both anaerobic and aerobic exercise.

Here are my data from my first Sweat-Betes body weight session:

  • Starting BG = 197, a little high 90 minutes after dinner but I felt okay
  • 20 minutes of body weight workout, completed one set of each of the four circuits and broke into a sweat
  • BG reading mid-way = 164, drank a big glass (12 oz.) of water
  • 15 minutes on the stationary bike in my target heart zone
  • Ending BG = 128, down 69 points! Drank another big glass of water


I felt a little light at the end of it. Not really light headed, but the muscles in my arms and legs felt a little loose. Also, since I exercised in the evening and not the heat of the day being sweaty wasn’t all that uncomfortable. The shower after sure felt good.

Ginger and I talked about my exercise session afterward.

Corinna: I’m going to reveal my ignorance and ask what is a circuit and a set? What makes a circuit a circuit? Does it exercise all parts of the body or something?

Ginger: Great question! So a “set” is the number of times each exercise will be performed. A “rep” is the number of times an individual exercise will be performed in that set. (For example: 10 reps of push-ups in 1 set). But a “circuit” implies that instead of doing 3-4 sets right in a row of the same exercise, you’ll actually work your way through one set at a time of each exercise, and then cycle back through for another circuit and another circuit.

The reason for this is because, for a beginner, you want to give that muscle group time to recover before working it again. For a beginner exercise, if you asked them to do 3 or 4 sets of 10 lunges right in a row, the muscles used in a lunge would fatigue very quickly, and by the third set, you might barely be able to perform 3 lunges! By breaking it up into a circuit, the muscles you used during the lunges are able to recover while you work your upper body, then your abs, and by the time you get back to your lunges, you’ll be ready to do 10 again.

Circuits are also great for fat-loss because you can keep moving by working out different muscle groups, keeping your heart-rate up and limiting the amount of rest-time you need.

As a competitive powerlifter, however, I did not do circuits. Instead, I was working the same muscle group in the exact same exercise for several sets in a row with specific rest time. This is because my goal wasn’t fat-loss as a powerlifting, but instead just building raw mass and strength. So it all comes down to what your level of fitness and goals are!

Corinna: I think I probably managed to complete one set of each circuit in the time you went through two sets in the video. And I certainly didn’t do each of the exercises with the same extension as you did. Thank goodness for having a chair to hold onto during some of the exercises, especially the one where I had to balance on one leg and extent the other behind me.

If I’m not doing the exercises with the same range as in the video how do I know that I’m getting some benefit?

Ginger: A huge part of strength and fitness is being patient with your level of fitness at any given moment while always striving to improve. I’ve had years to practice these exercises and I’m fairly flexible from years of yoga, so it’s only natural that I can lunge or squat a little deeper, etc. But if you’d watched me do those exercise 6 years ago, I would’ve needed the help of a chair, too!

Balance, like you mentioned, is something builds with practice. In fact, these all build with practice! So your goal should be to be aware of what the full form of the exercise is and work your way gradually and safely over any period of time. You may find your balance skills and strength develop more quickly than your flexibility during a squat—that’s okay, everyone is different.

The last thing I want to mention on this, though, is that it’s always better to do fewer repetitions of an exercise for the sake of great form (not necessarily perfect form, but awareness and control over your body) versus having to sacrifice something in order to do a lot of repetitions. For example, I’d rather see someone do 5 awesome, steady lunges, than 15 lunges where they’re falling all over the floor and risking an injury.

Corinna: I absolutely could not do the side plank with a hip dip. Who makes up these names, anyway? Side plank with a hip dip. It sounds like an appetizer you’d order during happy hour. Anyway, any advice on how to start out with this or is there a different (read: easier) exercise I can do in its place?

Ginger: LOL – this is a funny question. Most exercises just have very explicit titles that are used throughout the fitness industry. I really didn’t make any of them up!

The solution for your hip-dip woes would be to simply skip the “dip” part and just focus on lifting your hip off the ground and holding a side-plank. Again, it comes down to being patient with your body and working your way gradually to building your strength!

A big part of what keeps people out of going to yoga classes, for example, is a fear of not being able to keep up with the class, but I can tell you as someone who was once a yogi-novice myself, you have to learn how to be okay with that and know that you’re not the only one whose a newbie. Everyone is learning at their own pace, and progress will be made when we accept where we’re currently at and focus on working towards where we want to go in our fitness!

Corinna: My plan for this week is to stick with the body weight routine. I’ll exercise every other day and post my data and thoughts here. I’m taking it a little slowly since I’m just starting out, am in terrible shape, and don’t want to injure myself. In other words, I want to push myself just not too much. Does that sound weird?

Ginger: Not at all! In fact, that sounds brilliant! If you and I were meeting in the gym for the first time and I was taking your through these exercises knowing that you hadn’t done much exercise lately, I would make sure to give you plenty of rest time (or press pause on the workout video!) and I might only have you do 1-2 circuits of any given workout, because inevitably, you’re going to be a little sore. Soreness is a combination result of the breakdown of muscles (which is a good thing, because they get stronger when they build themselves back up) and also simply from stretching the muscles in ways they haven’t probably been stretched in a long time!

The best thing to do for those sore muscles the following day (and maybe even 2-3 days after your first workout)? Go for a walk! Get the blood flowing and loosen the muscles up. And embrace the fact that you’re sore because you did something good for your body!

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Thanks for sharing that dialogue Ginger and Corrina! I was a yoga newbie last spring but love it!! We have 1x/ week classes at work during lunch and it's a great break, a way to sneak in another workout and I always feel *totally* destressed afterwards.

One tip I'd add for the side planks is that I've found shoes or no shoes can make big difference. I started doing them a couple of months ago and was using running shoes w/ a wide, flared heel (Saucony Kinvaras as the scuttlebutt was minimal shoes were good for jumping, etc., which is true...) that made the side planks a lot harder to hold, even without dipping. I got some different shoes with a rounded heel and it made it easier to focus on what I'm supposed to be focusing on instead of my shaky feet. Work yoga is no shoes and that's also easier than the wider, bladed edge on the heel of many running shoes. Keep up the good work!

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Great stuff, you guys! I love the dialogue, and you are asking some *fantastic* questions, Corinna!

Patience is a big part of exercise for me. Especially when I'm trying something new, or even something old, but at a new time of day. Sometimes the variables shifting even just a little bit can throw a monkey wrench in the works, and we need to be aware of that, and be patient with ourselves.

Keep at it, Corinna! Focus on progress, not perfection! :-)

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Hey Scott,thanks for stopping by. Yeah, I think these exercises are going to be a lesson in patience and humility when I'm all done with this series.

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Mike, I've been exercising barefoot since I'm at home. I really think my issue is poor muscle strength. But I'm keeping at it!

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Speaking of keeping at it...here are my data from yesterday's body weight session.

I exercised before lunch.

  • Starting BG 132, not so bad
  • 20 mins. of SweatBetes body weight video; completed on set for each exercise in all the circuits
  • BG 145, what the...?!? I thought my BG was supposed to go DOWN!
  • 15 mins. on stationary bike in my target heart zone
  • Ending BG 141

I really didn't push myself this time. I got through the circuits. Still can't do that side plank thing. Overall my body did feel more loose at the end of this exercise session.

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If you are doing strength training and your BG goes up, I think that means you are doing the exercising correctly and getting stronger!! I have that problem when I lift weights or do pushups and stuff and like to do cardio afterwards but don't always have time. Keep up the good workouts!!

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20 years without complications! You're an inspiration, for sure! Go Nancy, Go!

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SKJ! That's a great point, and I can totally relate. I had to completely shift in my mind what a "workout" was after having to stop heavy powerlifting because of rotated hip! So much of who I was and how I expressed my energy was linked with powerlifting for a short period of time...and then it was just BOOM, gone! A different kind of monkey wrench. Learning how to enjoy and feel satisfied by other types of exercise took time and patience.

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That's interesting, Mike! Shoes or no shoes..I never thought about though. Without shoes, I think it would hurt a little -- at least my assumption. Although, I definitely prefer no shoes for balancing exercises, because my balance was developed during yoga, where you're barefoot!

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Corinna! This is GREAT. Keep in mind that 1) Meters are not accurate, and so you could've tested your BG twice at any of those times and had slightly different numbers. But also, like Mike said below, the exercises in SweatBetes are mostly anaerobic and therefore won't burn glucose for fuel. There's also a great deal of research happening right NOW around how lactic acid in diabetics is converted into glucose after a workout unless you do some cool down (like you did with the stationary bike), so you may have actually helped burn up that lactic acid with your cool down stationary bike ride and prevented a high, rather than being bothered by the fact that it didn't lower your BG.

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I'm running a little late this week. Here is the third installment of my postings about SweatBetes exercise videos for people with diabetes, Ginger Vieira and I talk about my first attempt at using the dumbbell weight video.

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Okay, so my first week of SweatBetes was a mixed bag. I managed to do two exercise sessions, not the three I planned. My body felt looser after each exercise session and I felt more energetic overall. I didn't feel as stiff, even on the days that I didn't exercise. And I had more energy to get a bunch of physical chores done over the weekend. This was stuff that’s been on my to do list since forever.

Here are my notes from today’s workout, my first session with dumbbells.

  • Late afternoon, between lunch and dinner
  • Start BG 184; drank 4 oz of water
  • 20 mins SweatBetes strength training w 2 lbs. dumbbells
  • Midpoint BG 171
  • 15 mins stationary bike in my target heart zone
  • Ending BG 148; drank 16 oz of water

My BG came down 36! I used a 2 lbs. weight and didn't get to the point where I felt the burn that Ginger mentions below.

Adding the weights really had an effect on my sense of balance. I thought this workout would be easier than the body weight one because it seemed like a lot of moving my arms. But that extra weight really affected my sense of balance and made my movements feel different.

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Corinna: Hey Ginger, my first question is the obvious one. What weight dumbbell should I start with? I have a set of 2 lbs., 3 lbs., and 5lbs. dumbbells.

Ginger: This is such a hard question to answer because even from one middle-aged woman to another, the strength you may have in one exercise compared to another woman could be remarkably different! Such as an 8 lb. dumbbell compared to a 25 lb. dumbbell! Everyone’s body’s has naturally stronger or weaker areas.

So, to stay on the safe side, choose a 5 or an 8 for the first time you do any exercise. Your 2 lb. and 3 lb. dumbbells have almost no place or use except for physical therapy types of exercises. The number one most common reason why the average person doesn’t gain any strength from their workout? The weight is too light. Ditch those 2s and 3s, and purchase some 8s and 10s!

Corinna: How do I know that I working with enough weight? How should my muscles feel while I’m exercising and afterward?

Ginger: This really has a two-part answer, because if you’re someone who hasn’t exercised in a while, you would not want to work your muscle until absolute failure. “Failure” in weightlifting implies that your muscle literally cannot do another repetition of that exercise. Instead, as a newbie, you’d want to choose a weight that feels like a moderately intense “burn” (which is simply lactic acid) in the muscle you’re working by the time you do the last 3-5 repetitions of that exercise. Overtime, you’ll be able to push yourself further and increase the weight!

Corinna: What do you think of using an “alternate” weight? You know, like a big tomato sauce can or a milk jug filled with water or sand?

Ginger: The issues with using household items are: 1) Safety: can you truly hold on to the item with a firm grip and no risk of dropping it on your head or your toes? 2) It isn’t likely you’d need the same amount of weight for everyone exercise, because different muscles will be stronger than others, so you’d need to make sure you have a very creative variety of cans or jugs in your house!

If you can make it work, go for it, but dumbbells are created to be very easy to hold during a variety of exercises, allowing your hand to firmly grip the weight safely!

Corinna: I noticed that you and Abby switched to bigger weights when you did the bend over row. How much more weight should I add? Or is it okay to use the same amount of weight?

Ginger: Everyone is different – literally, I cannot tell you how you much to use unless I was standing there with you. However, you can judge easily yourself after you do the first set. If you used an 8 lb. dumbbell for the row and you felt almost nothing (which most people would also feel because the row uses upper back muscles which are stronger than most other upper body muscles in a newbie exerciser) then you definitely need to increase the weight! On average, most newbie weightlifters can use 10-15 pounds more weight than think in exercises like the row. I’ve had many clients who were using 8 lbs in that exercise prior to working with me in the gym, but when we really looked at their strength, it was clear that they should’ve actually been using 20 lbs! Start low and build your way up until you get the moderate burning sensation in the muscle. Overtime, you can increase the weight and work towards an intensity of “failure” like we discussed in the previous question!

Corinna: I found myself smiling when I saw you favor one leg during the stiff-legged dead lift and reverse lunges. My right leg is stronger. Sometimes I hold on to a chair to keep my balance. How can I wean myself of the chair and make my left leg stronger?

Ginger: Oh, hahha, don’t even worry about it. EVERYONE–and I mean everyone—is stronger on one side of their body. I have never trained a client in the gym who wasn’t stronger on one side. Never. And it isn’t necessarily based on whether you’re right-handed or left-handed like many assume (I hear this one all the time in the gym). While our bodies appear to be symmetrical, they definitely aren’t. One leg might be centimeters longer than the other, or your pelvis is rotated more towards the right – these kinds of natural human imbalances change how much weight your body bears or how you use your body over the years, and that leads to greater strength on one side compared to the other. Just be aware of the imbalance and if you ever think it’s a truly significant variance, contact a physical therapist to have you assessed for a significant issue in your posture, etc.

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