Working Out With Type 1 Diabetes: A Few Tips Regarding Insulin Control

If you have type 1 diabetes and enjoy exercising, you must take extra care in managing your insulin injections so that you can avoid hypoglycemia and/or hyperglycemia. Because you have type 1 diabetes you must depend on insulin in order to help manage your blood glucose levels.

Exercise is physically demanding on your system, so it is imperative that you avoid having too much insulin before you exercise as this could lead to hypoglycemia. And if you do not have enough insulin in your system during exercise then your glucose levels may rise even though it is not being used for energy.

Now that you understand the importance of balancing your insulin injections when comes to exercise, what is the best way to measure exactly how much you need?

Research has shown that it is best to actually reduce the amount of insulin taken before exercise. Remember that you do not want to have too little insulin, but by reducing your dosage slightly then you will help prevent hypoglycemia. Everybody is different when it comes to finding the right dosage of insulin for type 1 diabetics, but with a little trial and error you can soon find out what works best for you so that you can enjoy your physical fitness activities.

Other Options...

Managing a balancing act with your insulin shots is not the only way you can manipulate your system so that you can enjoy high levels of exercise. Another avenue that you can take in order to prevent hypoglycemia is to eat a little bit of carbohydrate before, and especially during exercise. Carbohydrates will raise your blood glucose level very quickly and if you are exercising with enough intensity than your body will draw on this glucose for energy.

A second way of using insulin at its best in order to enjoy lengthier bouts of exercise is to pay attention to the injection sites in relation to what exercise you will be doing. In other words, be sure to inject your insulin in the areas that you may be the most stressed during a workout. Let's take running for example, if you inject insulin into your arm or shoulder that it will take a bit longer to become active as opposed to taking it into your legs. Because your legs are going to be stressed more during your runs, it is obviously best to inject your insulin into that body part.