Finally, it should be noted that several of the current exercise guidelines recommend a decrease in basal insulin for physical activity and exercise. The results of the current study and of those discussed previously indicate that this recommendation may not be appropriate for activities performed in a fasting state.

However, patients should always be advised to monitor their glucose levels closely upon starting or changing an exercise routine to ensure they understand their individual responses.

Hand-held glucometers and test strips for the study were provided by LifeScan Canada. Glucerna bars were provided by Abbott Nutrition Canada. We thank Shaelyn Houlder for her assistance in processing CGM data for the study analyses. Data related to the study were presented at the Diabetes Canada Professional Conference and Annual Meetings, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, November [ Can J Diabetes.

contributed to the conception and design of the project, as well as data collection and manuscript drafting and editing. contributed to data collection and analysis in addition to drafting and editing of the manuscript.

is the guarantor of this work. Disclosure Summary: J. has no conflict of interest to declare. Sillanpää E , Laaksonen DE , Häkkinen A , Karavirta L , Jensen B , Kraemer WJ , Nyman K , Häkkinen K.

Body composition, fitness, and metabolic health during strength and endurance training and their combination in middle-aged and older women.

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Kohrt WM , Spina RJ , Ehsani AA , Cryer PE , Holloszy JO. Effects of age, adiposity, and fitness level on plasma catecholamine responses to standing and exercise. When you talk with your healthcare professional about exercise, ask about your blood sugar testing needs.

If you manage type 2 diabetes without medicines, you likely won't need to check your blood sugar before exercise.

But many people with diabetes do need to test their blood sugar levels before physical activity. If you take insulin or other medicines that can cause low blood sugar, test your blood sugar 15 to 30 minutes before exercising.

If you use a continuous glucose monitor to track your blood sugar, talk with your healthcare professional. You may be told to test your blood sugar with a finger stick before, during or after exercise. If you receive insulin through an automated insulin delivery system, talk with your healthcare professional about that.

Ask how to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range for exercise. This is key if you usually don't notice symptoms when your blood sugar is low — a condition called hypoglycemia unawareness.

Do not exercise if you've needed help with recovering from serious low blood sugar in the past 24 hours. Below are some general guidelines for blood sugar levels before exercise.

This is a caution zone. Your blood sugar may be too high to exercise safely. Before you work out, test your urine for substances called ketones. The body makes ketones when it breaks down fat for energy.

The presence of ketones suggests that your body doesn't have enough insulin to control your blood sugar. If you exercise when you have a high level of ketones, you risk a dangerous health problem called ketoacidosis.

Ketoacidosis can be life-threatening. It requires urgent treatment. Ketoacidosis can happen to anyone with diabetes, but it is much more common with type 1 diabetes.

Instead of exercising right away if you have ketones, take steps to lower high blood sugar. Then wait to exercise until your ketone test shows an absence of ketones in your urine. During exercise, low blood sugar is sometimes a concern.

It's mainly a risk for people with diabetes who take insulin or other medicines linked to low blood sugar levels. If you're planning a long workout, check your blood sugar every 30 minutes. This is key if you're trying a new activity or increasing the intensity or length of your workout.

Checking every half-hour tells you if your blood sugar level is stable, rising or falling. That way, you can get a sense of whether it's safe to keep exercising.

Checking every 30 minutes may be a challenge if you're doing outdoor activities or playing sports. But you need to take this safety measure until you know how your blood sugar responds to changes in your exercise habits.

Eat or drink something with about 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate to raise your blood sugar level, such as:. Check your blood sugar again 15 minutes later. If it's still too low, have another gram carbohydrate serving. Then test again in 15 minutes. If you haven't finished your workout, you can continue once your blood sugar returns to a safe level.

You may need to have more snacks or a meal to raise it to that safe range. Check your blood sugar as soon as you finish exercising.

Check it again throughout the next few hours. Exercise draws on reserve sugar stored in your muscles and liver. As your body rebuilds these stores, it takes sugar from your blood. The tougher your workout, the longer it will affect your blood sugar. Low blood sugar can happen even 4 to 8 hours after exercise.

Having a snack with slower-acting carbohydrates after your workout can help prevent a drop in your blood sugar. These types of snacks include a granola bar, trail mix and dried fruit. If you do have low blood sugar after exercise, eat a small snack that has carbohydrates.

For example, you could have fruit, crackers or glucose tablets. Exercise is great for your health in many ways. But if you have diabetes, testing your blood sugar before, after and sometimes during exercise may be just as important.

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Why is this important? It is the ability to use fat, rather than carbohydrates, as fuel. Now, there is a lot of debate about the intensity level and exercise duration required to achieve optimal fat oxidation.

But, what scientists have proved is that the best way to increase the fat burning process is to exercise regularly. Fat burning depends on several things, including the number and quality of mitochondria.

Yes, we are back to those little powerhouses. And, as we already know, exercise increases both the amount and quality of mitochondria, resulting in improved fat oxidation.

The more fat you burn, the more you improve your insulin sensitivity, lower your blood sugar levels, and reduce your risk of diabetes. When you deplete your glycogen stores through exercise, you increase your available storage space for future incoming glucose.

This increased availability is something that you can take advantage of. You can replenish your glycogen stores by eating carbohydrates while minimizing your glucose responses and fat gain.

You may have had a sports coach or trainer tell you to eat carbohydrates immediately after exercise. This is a great technique for athletes, but also a great trick for us to have more flexibility in our diets. Choose the correct type of training to deplete your glycogen stores such as resistance training to take full advantage of the increased storage space and improve your metabolic flexibility.

One of the biggest roadblocks preventing metabolic flexibility for most is being physically inactive. Having good metabolic flexibility means your body can easily switch between breaking down carbs or fat for fuel.

Different types of workouts assist in your body becoming more metabolically flexible. Mitochondria play a vital role in determining metabolic flexibility, and exercise helps increase the number of mitochondria you have.

Exercise also promotes anabolic flexibility better ability to store or use glucose , which again, leads to improved metabolic flexibility. Regardless of the type of exercise, staying physically active can help improve metabolic flexibility and protect against the development of metabolic disease.

The relationship between exercise and blood sugar is a positive one. That is clear to see. But, this relationship does change depending on the type of exercise you do and if you have diabetes.

Strength training includes exercises like weightlifting free or machine , bodyweight exercises, and resistance bands to build muscle strength, mass, and endurance.

Strength training is anaerobic. When you work out anaerobically, your body uses glucose as your primary energy source. It breaks down glucose without using oxygen. This provides you with high bursts of energy over short periods.

The American Diabetes Association advises that anaerobic exercise improves blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity. Research published in the International Journal of Cardiology suggests that strength training can provide more effective blood sugar regulation than cardio in people with type 2 diabetes.

Additionally, engaging in strength training helps to build our lean muscle mass. Glycogen, that glucose storage space we touched on earlier, can be stored in only the liver or the skeletal muscle. So the more muscle mass you have, the more potential storage capacity you have for incoming glucose.

This equals out to lower and more controlled blood glucose values. Keep in mind, though, that intense strength training is one of the activities that can cause your blood sugar levels to rise post-exercise. Remember that this rise is not a negative thing, and glucose values will usually go down again about an hour later.

In the end, the benefit of the anaerobic exercise far outweighs the glucose spike. Zone 2 is aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is cardiovascular training that increases your heart rate and breathing for sustained periods.

Zone 2 training is a type of heart rate training. It uses your maximal heart rate MHR as a guide for the intensity of the activity. There are five zones in total, ranging from very light to very hard intensity. When training in zone 2, your body optimizes using both fat and glucose for fuel.

It achieves the highest amount of fat-burning for energy and improves the function of mitochondria. You get the maximum effect of this type of cardio training by doing it regularly.

The effect is cumulative, and over the long term, it significantly helps blood sugar control. High-intensity interval training HIIT combines both aerobic and anaerobic forms of exercise. It alternates more extended periods of cardio with short bursts of high-intensity activities.

In other words, HIIT gives you the best of both worlds! Thanks to the wide variety of exercises available under the HIIT workout umbrella, you can easily tailor this method to suit your lifestyle while reaping the benefits of glucose control and shedding abdominal fat.

Never discount the positive effect a stroll in the park can have on your health. Walking causes your heart to beat a little faster and your breathing rate to increase. This is going to promote your muscles to use more glucose and helps regulate your blood sugar levels.

In fact, a study published in Diabetes Care shows that three short minute walks a day are as effective at lowering blood sugar levels as one long minute walk at the same pace.

The same study states that completing a short walk after your evening meal has the most significant effect on regulating your blood sugar levels. Remember, exercise does not have to be vigorous to be impactful. Walking is an effective physical activity to help control your blood sugar levels.

So, even a brisk walk after dinner can make a big difference to your metabolic health. Stability exercises improve flexibility and balance.