# Difference between hard exercise and easy walking



## AndyLum (Dec 12, 2021)

Morning all,

For my thinking, bit of a strange one and wondering if anyone else has or does experience this.

Doing hard sessions at the gym or doing a Parkrun, I very rarely dip below 4 and into hypo territory.

However, a typical Sunday where I take the dog for a decent morning walk then a trip to the supermarket can have me down into the 2s.

Is it because it is a longer stint of activity? It feels odd that it happens during less intense activity.

Thanks


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## Robin (Dec 12, 2021)

AndyLum said:


> Morning all,
> 
> For my thinking, bit of a strange one and wondering if anyone else has or does experience this.
> 
> ...


This is definitely something I've observed. It’s basically because the liver goes into action and releases more glucose when you’re exercising strenuously. (But you may find that you dip lower overnight when it replenishes itself).


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## rebrascora (Dec 12, 2021)

During exertive exercise where you get muscle burn and get hot and sweaty and breath deeply the body is under stress and the liver pumps out glucose because it knows the body needs it but because we don't have enough insulin to deal with that glucose our levels usually rise rather than fall, but levels can drop over the next 48 hours as those muscles recover their stores from the blood. Gentle longer distance exercise means that the muscles slowly use up their stores and start sucking glucose out of the blood stream rather than needing insulin to push it and the liver doesn't get triggered to release glucose so levels drop.

Do be aware that shopping is quite well known for dropping levels and I have been stranded in the carb park with my shopping several times recovering from a hypo..... usually on a hot summers day whilst my chilled and frozen goods are getting warmer or thawing.


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## Robin (Dec 12, 2021)

rebrascora said:


> the carb park with my shopping


Only a fellow-diabetic could make such a slip!


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## Inka (Dec 12, 2021)

It’s also probably a bit of what I call the Supermarket Effect. I often randomly go low when shopping, so I now eat a Dextro or two before going in. I don’t know what causes it, but it’s a known thing. Shopping centres can do the same.


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## helli (Dec 12, 2021)

Shopping makes me go high. It's the stress - shopping has never been something I consider fun.

But I love the variety amongst us Ds.


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## Inka (Dec 12, 2021)

Stress helpfully (not) makes me go high sometimes and low others  I detest supermarkets and I think that partly contributes to my lows. The answer: online shopping. Bliss!


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## Jenny105 (Dec 12, 2021)

Inka said:


> It’s also probably a bit of what I call the Supermarket Effect. I often randomly go low when shopping, so I now eat a Dextro or two before going in. I don’t know what causes it, but it’s a known thing. Shopping centres can do the same.


Do emotions play a part.? Im new to this but I feel tired after a supermarket trip. 1 Pushing a heavy trolley up and down and back again . Plus the emotions involved in what to buy, looking for the bargains, deciding on a menu etc. and looking for low carb items and family items.
 My tip is to have a printed page of everything you might need, in the order they come in the shop. Ticking off todays wanted list before i shop.             Theres usually room for 3 -4 weeks ticks on a page .


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## Inka (Dec 12, 2021)

It’s the other shoppers that do it for me @Jenny105


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## helli (Dec 12, 2021)

Stress is definitely involved as is the type of exercise, the length of exercise and your fitness in that exercise.
For example, I cycle.
If I go for a gentle ride along the tow oath, chatting with my friends, it has no effect on my levels.
If I go for a intensive ride with in good weather on an undulating route over longer than 30 minutes, my levels drop.
If I cycle up a steep hill against a strong wind in the pouring rain, my level go up.


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## Jenny105 (Dec 12, 2021)

Interesting ..... what a game this is.           Going up against the wind- does that involved more muscle and affect other body parts.        I got 4.1 after swimming. I was swimming up and down but for most of the time I was using floats etc to push against the water. My arm muscles have gone Im trying to reinstate them


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## Inka (Dec 12, 2021)

With swimming, I find the cold water can make me lower too. Diabetes is so much fun with its randomness


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## AndyLum (Dec 12, 2021)

Thanks for all the replies. Interesting to see how everyone responds differenly, definitely no one size fit all.

Still new to this so will be testing and adjusting, especially since Friday when I got my Libre 2 for the first time.


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## helli (Dec 12, 2021)

Jenny105 said:


> Going up against the wind- does that involved more muscle and affect other body parts.


The reason my windy, rainy uphill ride increases my blood sugar is the stress. I dislike rain, wind and am not a fan of long never ending uphill rides.
It does not involve more muscle than a long hard undulating ride on a fair day but it may involve different muscles.


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## helli (Dec 13, 2021)

AndyLum said:


> Thanks for all the replies. Interesting to see how everyone responds differenly, definitely no one size fit all.
> 
> Still new to this so will be testing and adjusting, especially since Friday when I got my Libre 2 for the first time.


You may also want to consider 
- time since you last took your fast acting insulin. Exercise makes our bodies more efficient at using insulin. Therefore, some of us try not to exercise whilst we have "insulin on board" (IOB). IN other words, 4 hour since taking fast acting insulin. 
- your starting blood sugars. If my levels are too high, I find exercise extra hard work and the added stress causes my levels to rise further
- duration of exercise. Two things happen when we exercise - as I mentioned above, our bodies become more efficient at using insulin, and our liver releases glucose to give us the energy we need. Typically, the liver dump happens first so short sharp exercise (such as HIIT or reps with weights) can result in rises because we do not exercise for long enough for the insulin efficiency to start. 
- time of day. First thing in the morning, it is common for our livers to dump glucose. For this reason, I find pre-breakfast to be an ideal time for intensive exercise as the glucose dump balances the falling levels. 
- type of exercise. I mentioned how I react to cycling. If I was to do a similar run, my levels would behave differently because I am not as fit at running - I suspect even a gentle jog would cause my levels to rise. Whereas, I can walk for hours and see no impact. 

If you have a scientific curiosity, diabetes can be fascinating ... as well as incredibly frustrating.


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## Nick Young (Dec 21, 2021)

The above is really helpful thanks.  I cycle, run and swim and what I have read above plays out generally.  Having spent years without a CGM  it is now great to help understand and react so would recommend spending time looking at this after exercise sessions as it is as helpful as warming up and cooling down!

On IOB (insulin on board) - depending on the intensity of the exercise my blood sugar drops far quicker with IOB on board so as Helli suggest I try to start the exercise with no or very little IOB. That can be a frustrating as you have to plan ahead and harder especially if doing a longer intense bit of exercise first thing. If I do have IOB on board when I start I compensate with some more glucose earlier on in the session.

I have the equivalent of the shopping experience when I am gardening! As well as the medical explanation given above I also think there is a bit of laziness on my part because I do not think of it as being as hard as cycling etc and therefore won't have an impact on my sugar level....but it does .


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## travellor (Dec 21, 2021)

helli said:


> You may also want to consider
> - time since you last took your fast acting insulin. Exercise makes our bodies more efficient at using insulin. Therefore, some of us try not to exercise whilst we have "insulin on board" (IOB). IN other words, 4 hour since taking fast acting insulin.
> - your starting blood sugars. If my levels are too high, I find exercise extra hard work and the added stress causes my levels to rise further
> - duration of exercise. Two things happen when we exercise - as I mentioned above, our bodies become more efficient at using insulin, and our liver releases glucose to give us the energy we need. Typically, the liver dump happens first so short sharp exercise (such as HIIT or reps with weights) can result in rises because we do not exercise for long enough for the insulin efficiency to start.
> ...



I used to test regularly, and many things affected my liver dump.
As you say, gentle exercise is different to short intense which causes a liver dump and my muscles already have their own stores, so it's not taken up as quickly, so a gentle warm up helps.
Then again, any stress causes my liver to dump for a flight of fight response, so that messes it up further.
The type of exercise matters, if it's a cold outside run, my body shuts down the extremities, whereas if it's warm inside exercise capillary action flushes blood through a lot faster from my core to the extremities.
I used to find I could vary my readings quite significantly simply by running my cold hands under a hot tap.


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