Exercise is an important part of diabetes management. Exercise can help you:

 Improve your blood sugar level. Improves overall fitness. Manage your weight. It reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. Improve your health. But diabetes and exercise also present us with unique challenges. To exercise safely, you need to monitor your blood sugar levels before, during, and after physical activity. This shows how your body responds to exercise and helps prevent potentially dangerous blood sugar spikes.

 Before training: Check your blood sugar before training.

 Before starting a fitness program, get exercise clearance from a doctor, especially if you're not active. Ask your doctor how the activity you're considering affects your blood sugar levels. Doctors can also recommend the best time to exercise and the effects of medications that can affect blood sugar levels as activity increases.

 For the best health benefits, experts recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, including:

•  active walking
•  lap swimming
•  Cycling

 Experts also recommend that even children with type 1 diabetes get at least 60 minutes of moderate to active activity each day.

 If you are taking insulin or other medications that can cause hypoglycemia (hypoglycemia), test your blood sugar levels 15 to 30 minutes before exercising.

 Unless you're taking any medications for diabetes or medications commonly associated with hypoglycemia, you probably don't need to take any special precautions before exercising. Consult your doctor. Below

 These are general guidelines for pre-workout blood sugar levels. Measures are expressed in milligrams/deciliter (mg/dL) or mmol/liter (mmol/L).

 Less than 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/l). Your blood sugar may be too low to exercise safely. Eat snacks with 15-30 grams of carbohydrates such as juices, fruits, crackers, or even dextrose tablets before you start exercising. 100-250 mg/dL (5.6-13.9 mmol/L). You are ready to go. For most people, this is a safe pre-workout blood sugar range. 250 mg/dL (13.9 mmol/L) or more. This is a warning zone. Your blood sugar may be too high to exercise safely. Before exercising, test your urine for ketones, a substance produced when the body breaks down fat for energy. The presence of ketones indicates that the body does not have enough insulin to control blood sugar levels.

 If you exercise despite high ketone levels, you run the risk of developing ketoacidosis. This is a serious complication of diabetes and requires immediate treatment. Instead of exercising right away, take steps to correct the hyperglycemia and wait until the ketone test shows no ketones in the urine.

During exercise: watch out for hypoglycemic symptoms

 Hypoglycemia can be a problem during exercise. If you plan to train for a long time, especially if you are trying new activities or increasing the intensity or duration of your workout, check your blood sugar every 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes, check if your blood sugar is stable, rising, or falling, and safe to continue exercising.

 This can be difficult if you participate in outdoor activities or sports. But this precaution is necessary until we understand how blood sugar responds to changes in exercise habits.

 Stop exercising if:

•  Blood glucose 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L) or less
•  Feeling unstable, weak, or confused
•  Eat or drink something to raise your blood sugar (including about 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates).
•  1/2 cup (4 ounces / 118 ml) juice
•  1/2 cup (4 ounces / 118 ml) regular soft drink (not diet).
•  Candy, jelly beans, or candy corn (check the label to see how many grams of carbs they contain)
•  Check your blood sugar again after 15 minutes. If it's still too low, eat another 15 grams of carbs and test again in 15 minutes.

 Repeat if necessary until the blood glucose level reaches at least 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). If you haven't finished your workout yet, you can resume once your blood sugar returns to a safe range.

 After a workout: Recheck your blood sugar

 Check your blood sugar several times immediately after training and in the next few hours. Sport uses reserve sugar stored in the muscles and liver. When your body rebuilds these stores, it removes sugar from your blood.

 The more intense the workout, the longer the effect on blood sugar levels. Hypoglycemia is possible even 4-8 hours after exercise. Post-workout snacks containing slow-acting carbohydrates, such as a granola bar and trail mix, can help prevent blood sugar levels from dropping.

 If your blood sugar is low after exercise, eat carbohydrate-based snacks such as fruits, crackers, and glucose pills or drink 1/2 cup (4 ounces / 118 ml) juice.

 Exercise is beneficial for your health in many ways, but if you have diabetes, testing your blood sugar before, during, and after exercise is just as important as the exercise itself.