1. The General Relationship Between Exercise and Blood Sugar
In general, ‘aerobic exercises’ like walking, jogging, and swimming are very effective for blood sugar control. This is because during exercise, muscles use glucose from the blood directly for energy, and after exercise, insulin sensitivity improves, allowing blood sugar to be well-controlled with less insulin.
2. The Paradoxical Effect of High-Intensity Exercise
However, during ‘high-intensity anaerobic exercises,’ such as sprinting or heavy weightlifting, blood sugar can temporarily rise.
– Cause: Our body perceives high-intensity exercise as a type of ‘stress’ situation. At this time, stress hormones like adrenaline are released.
– Glucose Release from the Liver: These hormones command the liver to rapidly release its stored glucose into the bloodstream to provide the muscles with explosive power.
– The Result: Because the liver releases glucose faster than the muscles can consume it, a temporary rise in blood sugar can occur immediately after the exercise.
3. No Need to Worry
This temporary rise in blood sugar is not dangerous and will naturally come down again as the body stabilizes after the workout. In fact, in the long term, increasing muscle mass through strength training has a very positive effect, greatly improving baseline blood sugar control. Therefore, there is no need to avoid strength training out of fear of a temporary blood sugar spike.
Summary: While most aerobic exercise lowers blood sugar, high-intensity anaerobic exercise can temporarily raise it due to the influence of stress hormones. This is a natural phenomenon and is very beneficial for blood sugar management in the long run.
Leave a Reply