Your healthcare team can help you decide the best time of day for exercise. Together, you and your team will consider your daily schedule, your meal plan and your diabetes medicines.
If you have type 1 diabetes, you'll likely be advised to avoid strenuous exercise when you have ketones in your blood or urine. Ketones are chemicals your body might make when your blood-glucose level is too high and your insulin level is too low. If you exercise when you have ketones in your blood or urine, your blood-glucose level may go even higher.
If you have type 2 diabetes and your blood glucose is high but you don't have ketones, light or moderate exercise will probably lower your blood glucose. As always, talk with your doctor about your condition.
If you have diabetes complications, some kinds of exercise can make your condition worse. For example, activities that increase the pressure in the blood vessels of your eyes, such as lifting heavy weights, can make diabetic eye problems worse. If nerve damage from diabetes has made your feet numb, your doctor may suggest that you try swimming instead of walking for aerobic exercise.
Make sure to check your blood sugar before and after exercise, adjusting your insulin doses if needed. Prevent possible hypoglycemia by getting enough carbohy¬drates before and after exercise — and even during — if necessary.
Don't go it alone when you have diabetes. Talk with your doctor about the best time to exercise and about the best exercises for you.
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