P.E. and T1D

How many times have we heard that physical exercise is one of the best things we can do both for our general health and in order to achieve a better management of our disease? This is extremely true, and I've had the opportunity to experience it on my skin: since I've started practising physical exercise on a regular basis, things have changed radically for me. 

But have you ever asked yourself why, and especially, in what terms does any kind of sport positively affect our BG? Here is the answer. As usual, we have to debate about aerobic and anaerobic exercise separately. 

Aerobic exercise (swimming, running, even walking), as its name suggests, is a kind of activity which implies an extended but relatively intense effort. As a result, it requires a continuous inflow of glucose into our muscles, with the consequent effect of a sudden BG drop, which, except for the case of high doses of active insulin, will most likely stop at the end of the activity. The drop may not be observed in situations where we practice aerobic activities starting with a high BG and no active rapid insulin at all: this is a situation we absolutely want to avoid, and we can do it simply by injecting a small dose of insulin before our exercise; otherwise, our body will find its source of support in its own "deconstruction", through ketogenesis, a dangerous situation for our diabetes management. 

Instead, for what concers any anaerobic kind of exercise (bodybuilding, weightlifting, calisthenics), things get way different. Since this sort of sport requires extremely intense but short bursts of energy, the muscular glucose intake will be less consistent in the very short term, and, because of the minor calorific expense if compared to its aerobic counterpart, and, furthermore, due to the release of many stimulant hormones, such as adrenaline, the immediate BG drop will be limited. But don't think that, for this reason, we have to consider this type of exercise less important. In fact, its main outcome is the improvement of our body composition: an increase of lean mass, at the expenes of fat one, will boost our metabolism and lead, in the mid to long term, to reduced insulin needs, alongside with increased insulin sensitivity, and, as a consequence, to an overall way simpler diabetes management.

For these reasons, I've found that a combination of both these types of exercise is optimal even for diabetes managements: anaerobic one to achieve an overall better BG management, and aerobic one as a good practice to imporve our cardiovascular health, and, above all, as an immediate treatment for hyperglycaemia in combination with rapid insulin. Thank you for your time. And now, are you curious about everything you have to know in order to practice at best your exercise, safely and effectively? Check this section of my website out for more!