Aerobic and Anaerobic exercise

[Amberzak]

hi. A discussion we were having on the pump part of the forum got me interested.

Do you find your sugars either raise or drop based on the type of exercise you do?

Personally I find my sugars raise when I'm doing anaerobic exercise and lower when doing aerobic exercise.

 

[Northerner]

One of the first things I bought shortly after diagnosis was the 'Diabetic Athlete's Handbook' - I was anxious to get back into my running, and I found it very helpful in explaining the physical processes our bodies go through when we perform various types of exercise. It covers all forms of exercise, and you don't need to consider yourself an actual 'athlete' to benefit from it! 🙂

I learned that anaerobic/strength-based exercises are more likely to lower my levels quickly, and this happens whatever the form that exercise takes - including digging weeds in the garden! Aerobic exercise is slightly more complicated for me - up to a certain level it has little effect on my levels e.g. this morning I went out for a 5-mile run and my levels were 7.8 before and 8.2 after. Running further than about 8 miles usually means my levels will start dropping and I need to top up with a gel or jelly babies if I plan to run further 🙂

Basically, the theory goes that the more accustomed the particular set of muscles are to a form and duration of exercise, the more efficiently they will use energy - so, in my case, as I am used to running, my legs etc. work very efficiently and use less glucose, but gardening (for example) I tend to do in fits and starts, so it uses a lot more glucose 🙂

 

[Robin]

I have a riding lesson every week, and I find my sugars go up,or down depending on what we do. A technical dressage lesson will lower them, you need to use quite a lot of energy, (you're not just sitting on the horse as a passenger) a session out in the jumping paddock, when it can get a bit scary raises them, I assume because of the adrenalin output,

 

[HOBIE]

Keep at it ! Any type of exercise is good. Heart rate etc has a bit to do with it. If I was on a horse without any brakes my heart rate would go up 😱

 

[Matt Cycle]

I'm a bit like you Amberzak in that in general I find anaerobic exercise will push my bg's up and aerobic exercise will lower it. However it's not that straightforward as most exercise features both aerobic and anaerobic elements plus all the other variables that come with T1. Prof Michael Riddell has done lots of great work on T1 and exercise - a lot of it funded by JDRF including a study on T1, insulin pumps and exercise. I've posted this particular one before but it features some of the science behind aerobic and anaerobic exercise and its effects on those with T1 diabetes. It's not overly difficult to understand (as I could understand it 😉).

http://insulinfactor.com/graphics/pdf/t1_diabetes_and_vigorous_exercisel.pdf

 

[Copepod]

Runsweet has a good introduction to the different intensities of exercise here: http://www.runsweet.com/starting-sports/