Target BS when you begin your exercise

[venatici]

Hi -

I'm 6'0" 180lbs male. I'm looking at possibly starting some sort of aerobic routine to lower my total body fat ratio. I'm also thinking about some weight training to increase muscle mass. My question is this...

What is your target BS level when you begin to workout at a gym or at home, or where ever? Especially if you are doing an aerobic type workout? What has worked for you folks?

[Scratch]

Everyone's got some variation.

I've seen my best success if I can get my starting blood sugar somewhere between 120 and 160 mg/dl for aerobic exercise and hopefully with little to no bolus insulin in my system.

I'm 5'9", 144 lbs right now, very little body fat but I can't give you a precise number.

I do mostly bodyweight training for strength and now seem to be adding some muscle mass since eliminating gluten from my diet, I probably have celiac sprue and that was screwing with my intestines.

[xMenace]

What's your regimine? I try for 6.0 mm. I try to drop my basals rather than take extra carbs, but I do a bit of each.

[JediSkipdogg]

That totally depends on how you work out and what you do before hand. I prefer to eat something small with about 30 carbs and also run my BG around 150-180 before working out. If I'm doing anything aerobic then I may eat more or run slightly higher as I know I'll drop around 100 mg/dl from the 30 minutes of aerobic alone. Since I'm on a pump I will even drop my basal insulin by 50% starting 1 hour prior to working out and lasting 2 hours.

It's all a balance system. You have to balance insulin, with food, with the exercise. Exercise and insulin will take you down, food will take you up. Their interaction times all vary as well and you have to experiment for what works best for you.

[issysmommy]

I have found that I don't seem to really go low if I do any kind of weight/strength training only, but if I walk on the treadmill, I tend to drop pretty quickly...even if I start above 200.

But someone mentioned something earlier about IOB, so I'll have to look at that, too. I hate to eat something to workout. It seems to be counteractive...although I have to remind myself that it'd be better to eat and exercise than to not eat at all. I am going to work with my basal rates.

Personally, this is one of "those things" I can't stand about my diabetes. I seem to do ok with everything else. But it is hard enough for me to get to the gym, and for some reason I really resent it that we (diabetics) have to work so hard just to exercise (as if it wasn't hard enough)...then I have to get off my pity party. :)

[Real4]

Hi -
What is your target BS level when you begin to workout at a gym or at home, or where ever? Especially if you are doing an aerobic type workout? What has worked for you folks?
Like any other part of managing this disease, you have to try, test and retry until you get what works for your situation.

One possibility is to take a long some high carb food and eat some periodically. That was you never have to get too high and don't have to take a correction shot, if your exercise is postponed for some reason.

[someone]

To me it seems best not to go high to prevent a low but instead prevent the low by periodically having something like gatorade. This way your BG stays more stable.

[Cyborg]

The general rule is that aerobic exercise tends to lower bg, while anaerobic exercise tends to raise bg. I was told long ago not to exercise if my bg was above 250.

Have some glucose handy and see what happens. If a certain type of exercise raises your bg consistently, you could always bolus for it before hand...

[trailrunner]

I like to be around 120 ish. I always( almost always) have a gel on me for when /or if I go low.

[KCP]

Yea, i did a 45min spin class yesterday. Tested 8.5 before hand, ate two jubes. Did the class, came out at 7.0

Whereas, i discovered 5.6 is too low. I did 15 mins on crosstrainder, felt low. Tested and was 3.2.. So i now aim for :
8ish with no bolus in system
have a small snack of sugar (t2x jubes, 2x prunes, half banana)

[xMenace]

Yea, i did a 45min spin class yesterday. Tested 8.5 before hand, ate two jubes. Did the class, came out at 7.0

Whereas, i discovered 5.6 is too low. I did 15 mins on crosstrainder, felt low. Tested and was 3.2.. So i now aim for :
8ish with no bolus in system
have a small snack of sugar (t2x jubes, 2x prunes, half banana)

You said bolus. Do you pump? If so, you could try a low temp basal instead. Why feed the disease? But it is a great excuse to eat a Snickers bar ;)

[KCP]

Lol i said bolus.. yes, i did. Nope dont pump.. OK, so im a fraud. I dont know the proper terms..

[morrisma]

I like to be between 120 and 160 before I start an hour on the elliptical. I ALWAYS have some fast carbs and water with me.

I have found that weight training lowers my bgs later, maybe an hour or 2 after I finish.

I pump, so cutting my basal rate is easy. My temp basal is at 50% currently.

BTW, helping someone move, sort of a combined weight & aerobics session is the fastest at dropping my bs. An excuse to supervise!
Mike

[JediSurfer]

I prefere to be around 7. But I also use a glucogel which is about 35 grams of carbs for a 30 minute power walk twice daily. I find if my bg is above 9 its really difficult to exercise and I get a lot of leg pain and difficulty breathing. By the time I have walked to work I am usually around 5.6 and need to eat a little starchy slow release carbs to prevent dropping low around an hour later. I also have my dinner around 9pm at work so getting the numbers right for my meal is essential as I can only get this one half hour meal break during the night.

[Alice]

For my 3 mile walk, I try to be around 130-150. If I'm at that point, then I rarely need snack/glucose tabs.

If I'm closer to 80-120 before walking, I eat about 15 g of carb before walk and about 15 g afterwards. I stay pretty even this way and don't have that "full" feeling of walking on a full stomach.

So, I guess I need about 30 carbs if my glucose is normal...about 100...before a walk.

[cheryl]

I don't have a target, I just know if I need to eat or not, like ok if I am lower then 140 yup need to drink some gatorade to start...then half hour into it, pop a granola bar....then when I am all done....I see if I am under 100 if I am....another snack if not...then I am usually fine,, but I wait to even attempt to bolus and eat a meal for about 2hrs anytime i bolused even an hour after working out....I will go down into the 40's....

[thomasb]

i lift weights five times a week and also do some light cardio before each session. I workout at morning, 9 am usually. I'll eat a breakfast that will land me on around 8 or 9 when i leave for the gym. i then have around 0.8 units of active insulin onboard.
coming to the gym after a brisk walk, i strive towards a 5 or 6 mmol. i check before i start the workout. lower then 5 i'll eat 2 dextrose tablets. i find i perform best at around 5-6 mmol.