A few weeks ago I started Sunday morning kettlebell circuits, mainly to add variation to my training in order to keep things interesting and to shock my body to adapt to new exercises. For us diabetics it certainly is a shock to the body if you don’t manipulate insulin for it. This is why I always say that it is about trial and error, particularly with circuit training because it combines strength and cardio. We are in constant experiments with our blood sugar, insulin and carb intake. Here is how I went about my little trial run to get my basal right for circuit training. Let’s look at the first 4 sessions as an example of how to find what’s right for you.
Session 1
Starting BG was 7mmols and post workout bg was 14.1mmols. I didn’t adjust the basal at all because I wanted to use this first session as a starting point to fine tune it for the next few weeks. This indicated a definite increase.
Session 2
I had the same breakfast and same carb / insulin ratio as the week before. However, I did increase my basal 20% and it turned out that it wasn’t enough. Start bg – 7.2mmols and end bg was 8.2mmols. Increase again..
Session 3
Again, I ate the same things to avoid any interference from bolus. I increased basal by 40% and this did the trick. Starting bg was 7 and end bg was 6.5mmols.
Session 4
I ate an hour before this circuit without adjusting the bolus for exercise so I took the pump off because I knew the insulin from the food bolus would cover the lask of basal insulin. Starting bg was 9mmols and end bg was 4.5mmols. Next week I will reduce my carb / insulin ratio and see what happens.
So this concludes that when I eat within an hour of circuit training I am able to take the pump off. However, if I eat a couple of hours before I am forced to increase my basal insulin for said activity. The result can also be dependat on how hard you work or how hard you don’t work. Always work your hardest and you won’t have to worry about that part.
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Rowena x