Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jen on January 17, 2010 at 2:28pm

Hey ATG!

I'm actually going to be trying out Zumba at a diabetes retreat in two weeks! SO EXCITED! :)

When I work out I usually adjust my basals (for some activities where I'm prone to lows) 2 hours before the exercise. My reasoning is that the humalog that I use in my pump, peaks at about 2-3 hours after infusion. If I were going to be doing a workout at noon, reducing the basal I am getting at 10AM will mean that there will be a much lower 'peak' when my exercise starts to get intense (between noon and 1)... I also make sure that I have enough carbs in my system to give my body the energy it needs to do exercise, same as the non-D folk would do!

I always avoid taking my pump off, at all costs, although I know many people can function quite well BG wise after disconnecting. I find, similar to above, that if I were to disconnect at noon, I would have no insulin in my system to peak at 2:00, thus causing a high BG...

I'd love to hear what other people do! I learned about the peaking of insulin and adjustment for exercise at the Diabetes Exercise and Sport Association (DESA) conference last June. The conference featured leading researchers and practitioners specializing in diabetes and exercise, along with many athletes who could give their first hand experiences about what worked for them and what didn't. I'd have to say if I were to highlight my two greatest learnings from the conference it would be that no two people are exactly the same in what works for them, and the concept of peak insulin times balancing exercise.

Permalink Reply by Andrea G on January 17, 2010 at 2:30pm

Thanks! I am going to a class tomorrow night at 7pm so I'll definitely try to reduce my basal 2 hours before instead of 1-great idea!

-Andrea

Permalink Reply by Alesha McElvogue-Calonkey on January 17, 2010 at 2:42pm

When I go exercise I reduce my basal to 70% for an hr bf I exercise, then while I'm exercising I turn it back on to 100% and then check my sugar after my hr of exercise and it's usually perfect!

Permalink Reply by Cathy Jacobson on January 17, 2010 at 5:30pm

Okay , living in the sticks, I have NO idea what Zumba is, can you explain to me? Thanks, Cathy J

Permalink Reply by Andrea G on January 17, 2010 at 5:33pm

Zumba is a workout based on Latin dance. It is amazing and fun and feels like you are out dancing at a club, not at a gym! You can read more here: http://www.zumba.com/us/about/

Permalink Reply by Jen on January 18, 2010 at 8:47pm

How did your Zumba class go? Any lows? Any highs?

Permalink Reply by Andrea G on January 19, 2010 at 2:55am

I didn't try your strategy yet-I couldn't make it to class yesterday, but I am going tomorrow night. I will respond again then!

Permalink Reply by Andrea G on January 20, 2010 at 5:31pm

Jen...I tried your strategy tonight...here were the results:

5pm BS 204, reduced basal to half (ate a small dinner but took normal bolus)
6pm BS 204
7pm BS 198-Zumba started.
7:30 BS 146 (yahoo!)
8pm BS 117 (yippee!) Class over- basal back up to normal

We'll see what's going on with my numbers in a few hours. THANK YOU FOR THE SUGGESTION! It was so nice not going low in the middle/end of class.