I go to a beginner’s flow class once a week that has a short flow sequence incorporated into stretching and other easy poses. I generally do okay BG-wise but occasionally need a candy or g-tab boost toward the end of class. I don’t set a temp basal but do make sure I don’t have any IOB. (It’s a late afternoon class.) Also I try to start with a BG around 120 when possible. The teacher knows about my T1 so that when I have to carb up and rest it is no problem. But I don’t like having to miss out on some of the practice (though that usually occurs toward the end of class).
I want to start taking a somewhat more challenging morning class and am not quite sure how to prepare. I am thinking I need to add more protein to my breakfast and eat earlier than I usually do to minimize IOB. Is a temporary basal appropriate, maybe 25 percent reduction as a starting point an hour before?
I know this is a YDMV kind of situation and also an experiment for me but I have not had a regular exercise program in many years and am feeling a little anxious about this. So any suggestions greatly appreciated!
I have some ideas for you but I’d like to get a little info first.
A couple questions for you:
How long before class starts are you eating and taking insulin? In general, is lunch the last thing you eat before class? (other than a possible carb correction)
During the class, is there any cardio effort involved, or is it more stretch and muscular strengthening?
Have you been adjusting your basal at all for the classes you have been going to so far?
So, lunch is 4-5 hours before class, which lasts an hour. ). The class starts with breathing and limbering warm-ups, has 10-15 minutes of gentle aerobic flow (based on sun salutations), and then balance and stretching before the resting posture. Sometimes my BG often starts dropping in the hour before class and I end up gulping some juice before leaving the house. I generally have not adjusted my basal beforehand but in that situation I guess I ought to do so?
I think this is definitely something that can be helped with a little basal adjustment. I would suggest just some simple basics to start with and try to get in the right ballpark, and then fine-tuning everything after a few tries.
If you are going to attend a morning class, how early is it? I really like the zero IOB idea. Is it possible to eat 4 hours before the morning class, or is that not realistic?
Carbs will help you the most. Protein is useful after exercise for rebuilding muscle fibers. And it is also helpful before resistance exercise. But for what you are doing, a good carb breakfast will help prevent the BG drop more than protein.
Tell me when your class starts and how early before class you could eat.
I am not a morning person so usually don’t eat till 8:30 or 9 a.m. But the class is at 9:30 and I expect I could bolus at 6:30 at eat at 7:30 if need be. That would be the earliest I could manage. Sigh…
ETA: Sometimes I have a bit of early BG spike but mostly I don’t…
How would you feel about going with no breakfast? Are you able to function okay with no breakfast?
For things that are not cardio intense, if I have to choose between food and IOB, or no food and no IOB, I always go with the no food no IOB option.
If you feel you need breakfast, then we can figure out a good plan. Something like a breakfast bolus and zero temp basal (TB) for the two hours before class (the breakfast bolus is also covering basal for you). The zero TB reduces your IOB a little more than if you kept your basal normal.
So while 2 hours is not normaly enough to give you zero IOB, when you combine it with 2 hours of zero TB, you get close.
If you are not having breakfast, just keep your basal normal until the class starts and then go to a zero temp basal for 30 minutes. That’s a fairly conservative approach. It can help prevent a drop during class, but is not so much that you spike after your class.
So I ate a few carbs this morning since I awoke lower than usual (85) and skipped breakfast. I was up to mid-120s before the class, when I decreased basal to 0 for 30 minutes (and did that ever seem weird!). Ended class at 148 on the CGM–the pace was not as demanding as I thought it might be–so next week I will only decrease my basal by 50 percent and still skip brekkies. Thanks so much for giving me a starting strategy, @Eric, that would never have occured to me!!
Cool! Good to get some different data points for your mornings. So when you see a morning spike with no breakfast like you did from 85 to 120 this morning, you know you can be more conservative with the temp basal cut. Maybe 50% works well on a day like that.
But on a different day, if you have no morning spike, the 0% temp basal might fit better. So you can just read the signals and make the right call as needed.
There are so many different ways it can go from one day to the next, that is it really good to see them and learn how to deal with each one.
@CatLady
I stretch every day. Usually I do it in the evening. When I try to do it early in the morning, I am very inflexible. Moving around throughout the day loosens me up and makes the stretch much better. The difference between morning and evening flexibility is really big for me.
It that kind of the same for everyone, you are more flexible at night? How do you do yoga early in the morning? Maybe that’s why it’s the advanced yoga class, because it is early!
I agree, stretching is more of a challenge in the morning! That’s why we start with breathing and warm-ups and simple twists. The stretching usuallly follows the “flow” sequence (moving thriugh poses on the breath). This can be very aerobic!
Does exhaling help you stretch further? I have heard I am supposed to hold the stretch, and then push it further as I exhale. Is that right?
If you were to stretch a specific muscle for a short period of time, is it better to hold it for the entire time, like 2 minutes? Or is it better to hold it for a short time, relax and then go back into the stretch - alternating between stretching and relaxing for the 2 minutes?
Which is the more effective stretch? I have heard different opinions on this from licensed sports therapists. Apparently this topic has not been settled among them.
Exhaling can indeed help in stretching and for me especailly with standing and seated forward bends (hamstrings). In the classes I go to, stretches and poses are held over 3-5 breaths, sometimes upward of 30 seconds or so. There are many approaches to yoga so some practitioners hold poses 1-2 minutes or longer.
As to your second question, I have no information on that topic but I do know that sometimes it feels good to come out of a stretch, rest, and then repeat it.
