Post Time: 2025-07-26
Engaging in physical activity is a cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle, particularly for individuals managing diabetes. However, the dynamic impact of exercise on blood glucose levels necessitates vigilant monitoring. Blood glucose monitors are invaluable tools that provide real-time data, allowing individuals to make informed decisions about their nutrition, medication, and exercise intensity. Without proper monitoring, one risks both hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), each carrying potential health consequences. This article delves into how to effectively use blood glucose monitors to ensure accurate blood sugar management during exercise.
The physiological response to exercise can vary greatly among individuals, influenced by factors such as the type, intensity, and duration of the activity, as well as an individual’s metabolic health and medication regimen. For example, short bursts of high-intensity activity can elevate blood sugar levels, while prolonged, moderate-intensity activities tend to lower them. This is why consistent blood glucose monitoring before, during (if feasible), and after workouts is essential for safely navigating these changes.
Importance of Blood Glucose Monitoring:
- Preventing Hypoglycemia: Low blood sugar can lead to dizziness, confusion, and in severe cases, loss of consciousness. Monitoring helps identify when corrective action, like consuming a quick-acting carbohydrate, is necessary.
- Avoiding Hyperglycemia: High blood sugar over prolonged periods can cause fatigue, increased thirst, and long-term complications. Monitoring helps in making timely adjustments to medication or insulin dosages.
- Optimizing Performance: Consistent monitoring allows for fine-tuning of pre-exercise nutrition and medication to maintain optimal blood glucose levels, which can lead to enhanced performance and workout quality.
- Personalized Management: No two bodies react exactly the same. Monitoring facilitates a better understanding of how an individual’s blood glucose responds to different exercises, thereby guiding a tailored management plan.
Preparing for Exercise: Pre-Workout Blood Glucose Testing
The first step in using a blood glucose monitor effectively for exercise is to test your blood sugar levels before you begin any physical activity. This pre-workout measurement provides a baseline and helps determine if it is safe to start exercising. Understanding your pre-exercise blood glucose can guide critical decisions, such as the need for a pre-exercise snack or a modification in insulin dosage.
Here are some actionable steps to take based on pre-exercise measurements:
- Ideal Range: Generally, a pre-exercise blood glucose level between 100-250 mg/dL (5.6-13.9 mmol/L) is considered acceptable for starting moderate exercise. This may vary based on individual treatment plans, so consulting your doctor or diabetes educator for tailored guidance is essential.
- Low Blood Glucose (<100 mg/dL or 5.6 mmol/L): If your blood sugar is low before exercise, it's critical to consume a quick-acting carbohydrate snack, such as 15-20 grams of carbohydrates found in juice, glucose tablets, or a small piece of fruit. Wait 15-30 minutes, retest, and if it's within an acceptable range, you can proceed cautiously. If it's still low, wait and re-eat.
- High Blood Glucose (>250 mg/dL or 13.9 mmol/L): When your blood glucose is too high, especially in the presence of ketones (which should be checked via a separate test), it might be unsafe to exercise. Vigorous exercise can increase the blood glucose even more and this could lead to ketoacidosis. You might want to reduce your training load or choose a less-intense form of exercise. Corrective action with insulin (as per your individual guidelines) and drinking more fluids should take place.
- Pre-Exercise Snack Strategy: Depending on your baseline reading and your planned activity’s duration and intensity, a small, balanced snack may be necessary. This might include complex carbohydrates and proteins like a handful of almonds and a small whole-wheat cracker, aiming for steady, slow energy release. This strategy is to maintain your blood glucose at an ideal level during exercise.
- Insulin Adjustment: Individuals using insulin should be aware of its onset, peak, and duration, and accordingly adjust their doses if needed, especially before extended exercise sessions. Your healthcare provider should advise on these individualized dose adjustments.
| Blood Glucose Level Before Exercise | Recommended Action | Example Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Below 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) | Consume 15-20 grams of quick-acting carbs, wait, and retest | Glucose tabs, 4 oz juice, small fruit. |
| 100 - 250 mg/dL (5.6 - 13.9 mmol/L) | Typically safe to proceed with caution | Monitor carefully during the session |
| Above 250 mg/dL (13.9 mmol/L) | Proceed with extreme caution, possibly skip or reduce load, hydrate and treat, if ketons are present, skip completely | Check for ketones; contact health provider for guidance |
Intra-Exercise Blood Glucose Monitoring and Management
While pre-exercise checks are crucial, in specific cases, it's essential to track blood glucose during prolonged physical activity. This is particularly true for long-duration exercise like marathons, long bike rides, or intense hiking trips.
Intra-exercise blood glucose monitoring is often overlooked yet is particularly important for people who have had frequent drops in blood glucose. For most typical exercise sessions lasting less than an hour, pre- and post- checks are usually sufficient. However, longer sessions might present unique challenges requiring a careful mid-session check. Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM's) are becoming increasingly popular for their ability to track changes in blood glucose without finger-pricking, this may be a good option for athletes that struggle to keep their blood glucose within range. However, CGMs are often not as accurate at time of exercise due to changes in the interstitial fluids that they measure, so spot checks with a conventional blood glucose monitor may also be helpful.
Intra-Exercise Monitoring Steps:
- Timing: If you find yourself undertaking longer duration sessions that may trigger dips, aim to check your blood sugar every 30-60 minutes. The duration may be decreased if your blood glucose seems to change very rapidly during exercise.
- Procedure: Depending on whether you have a CGM or a finger-prick meter, follow the respective instructions for the monitor's use. If using a finger-prick meter, make sure to sanitize the area prior to pricking.
- Interpretation: Monitor for changes, be aware of your starting point before the exercise session, and see whether it is trending up, or down and how quickly it's changing.
- Fueling: Based on readings, have a snack or drink containing carbohydrates as necessary. Usually, it is best to reach for 15-30 g of carbohydrates every 30-60 minutes for longer endurance exercise sessions to keep your blood glucose levels stable. Adjust this strategy based on personal responses and expert guidance.
- Safety Considerations: If the reading is unexpectedly low, stop exercising, consume a quick source of sugar, and reassess. The response should be in line with the individual hypoglycemia treatment guidance that would be provided by a healthcare provider.
Additional Tips:
- Plan Ahead: Before a workout, know where the nearest spots are to measure your blood glucose or to eat/ drink to replenish. This will allow you to continue exercising with confidence.
- Keep Records: Keeping a record of your blood glucose readings associated with different exercises will allow you to predict how your body will respond, which then helps you fine-tune your individual plan with your medical team.
- Educate Yourself: Always stay informed about the latest research on exercise and diabetes, and regularly check in with your health care team to make sure you are following the latest guidelines.
Post-Exercise Blood Glucose Monitoring and Recovery
The post-exercise period is just as crucial for managing blood glucose levels as pre-exercise monitoring. Physical activity can have an ongoing effect on your blood sugar for several hours, sometimes even a day or two post-exercise.
Post-exercise readings help determine your body’s immediate response to the workout and inform decisions about recovery, nutrition, and subsequent adjustments in your diabetes management plan. Many individuals tend to experience a decrease in blood glucose after exercising, and sometimes the onset of low glucose may take time to occur. Some individuals may also see increases in their blood sugar in response to exercising, and this may come up immediately post session. For these reasons it is important to always check in on your post workout blood glucose levels.
Post-Exercise Monitoring and Management:
- Timing: Measure your blood glucose within the first 30 minutes to an hour post-exercise. For longer, more intense sessions, or after trying something new, checking periodically for the next several hours may also be helpful, particularly to ensure that no night time hypoglycemia happens.
- Procedure: If the workout or activity is over, ensure that the same protocol as you used previously for finger-prick testing is used.
- Recovery Nutrition: A balanced meal containing a good mix of carbohydrates and protein is often recommended post-exercise.
- Insulin Adjustments: As always, assess if any adjustment in insulin may be required to ensure your blood glucose stays in your target range for the next couple of hours after exercise. Your health team will provide guidance for individual needs based on typical pre-exercise blood glucose and workout style.
- Safety Considerations: Always look out for any signs or symptoms of hypoglycemia, in case they begin late, or any signs or symptoms of dehydration, or hyperglycemia that need immediate treatment.
Table: Blood Glucose Response Post-Exercise
| Blood Glucose Reading | Common Response | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Decreased or Stable | Typical Response for most | If a post workout meal has been eaten then it should help raise the blood glucose to its proper levels |
| Significant Drop Below target Range | Possible Hypoglycemia Risk | Consider post workout snack, also think about reducing the dose of insulin before next training session and seek advice from your health team if these drops happen often |
| Increased Above target Range | Possible Hyperglycemia | Consider post workout insulin, also think about increasing the dose of insulin before next training session and seek advice from your health team if these spikes happen often |
By effectively using blood glucose monitors and understanding how exercise impacts blood sugar, individuals with diabetes can manage their condition while enjoying the numerous benefits of an active lifestyle. Remember, always consult with a healthcare provider or diabetes educator for personalized advice tailored to your specific health needs.
Find out how to reverse nerve damage with this one vitamin. No one talks about this! This vitamin is associated with the most common deficiency behind most nerve problems. In this video, we’ll address the solutions to many common nerve problems. Coimbra Protocol: 0:00 Introduction: the vitamin that does aleve raise blood sugar reverses nerve damage 0:12 Viruses and nerve damage 1:38 Arginine and lysine 2:12 Sciatica and copper 2:30 Carpal tunnel syndrome and multiple sclerosis 3:31 Peripheral neuropathy and vitamin B1 Viruses can hide in the ganglia (a nerve cell cluster) and turn off autophagy, a state in which the body recycles damaged proteins. Here, the viruses can lie dormant until stress levels rise, which increases cortisol and weakens the immune system. Emotional stress can significantly weaken the immune system. This is why many dormant viruses come out of remission after a stressful event, such as losing a loved one. The herpes and shingles viruses are often seen after a significant stressor. These viruses need 134 fasting blood sugar the amino acid arginine to survive. Lysine can block arginine and stop the reproduction of these viruses. You need at least 1000 to 3000 mg of lysine to block arginine. Sciatica typically stems from a disc problem. Copper deficiency is at the root of many disc problems, so it can be an excellent solution for sciatica. A copper supplement or copper cream can help reduce sciatica pain. Carpal tunnel syndrome is usually caused by a vitamin B6 deficiency. Along with increasing vitamin B6, you also need more vitamin B12 to support the myelin sheaths of your nerves. Adequate vitamin D3 is vital for conditions like multiple sclerosis and helps reduce inflammation within the nerve cells. To put conditions like MS into remission, you need to take large amounts of vitamin D3—at least 50,000 IU. The Coimbra Protocol is a well-researched method of using high doses of vitamin D3 to effectively reduce the symptoms of autoimmune conditions. Many people with diabetes develop a condition called peripheral neuropathy that causes numbness in the toes and feet. Vitamin B1 in the form of benfotiamine can penetrate the myelin sheath and help reverse nerve damage caused by high blood sugar. For vitamin B1 to work, you need the cofactor magnesium. Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio: Dr. Berg, age 59, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media. Follow Me On Social Media: YouTube: YouTube Shorts: Keto Recipes: Facebook: Instagram: Spotify Podcast: 🎧 TikTok: X: Disclaimer: Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients, so he can focus on educating people as a full-time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose, and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have best time to test fasting blood sugar regarding a medical condition. #health #keto #ketodiet #weightloss #ketolifestyle #intermittentfasting #lowcarb Thanks for watching! I hope this helps you understand the root causes and solutions to many common nerve problems. I’ll see you in the next video.