Training with Exacerbated Type-II Diabetes

“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity. From discord find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” ~Albert Einstein

The journey of my diabetic related issues span over a decade now, starting with the mysterious circumstances of hyperglycemia back in 2012. Despite my suspicions, it wasn't until 2014 that I received an official diagnosis, accompanied by a slew of bizarre complications. From aggressive cataract in both eyes to cellulitis, torn back muscles, skin boils, and even a bout with Covid-19, 4 years ago this July. My health has been a rollercoaster ride through hell and back to purgatory. But the strangest part? None of the standard treatments seem to have worked for me. Metformin left me sick, regular insulin caused sugar crashes, and even the so-called experts were stumped. My medical journey feels like a never-ending puzzle with pieces that just won't fit, NASA-Chimp-Style. Shove that triangle into a space for a square Monkey. Come on little buddy, it’ll fit, just keep pluggin’ away at it. It's not just my physical health that's suffering. My mental and emotional well-being have taken a beating too. Anxiety, blindness, depression, and the silent agony of PTSD weigh heavy on my shoulders, dragging me further into the darkness of the singularity, where no information can return intact. Despite this constant war for my life, I soldier on, steering my ship through the stormy seas of uncertainty. With each passing day, I cling to the hope that someday, somehow, I'll find a glimmer of stability amidst the chaos. Or NOT… But for now, I'll keep bracing the sails and laughing in the face of the storm, knowing that behind those dark clouds, the sun still shines, patiently waiting until it doesn’t.

My digestive issues really take precedence right now. They call it ‘Gastroparesis.’ The slowing down of digestion, emptying of the stomach contents into the small intestine. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, bloating, cramping, muscle fatigue and feeling full quickly after eating. It can be caused by damage to the vagus nerve, which controls the muscles of the stomach, by sustained high blood sugar or hyperglycemia. This nerve damage leads to delayed gastric emptying, exacerbating blood sugar control issues by causing unpredictable spikes and dips in glucose levels.

Needless to say I am in a near constant state of being uncomfortable or in pain.

Diabetes is described as a catabolic condition, leading to undernutrition and hyperglycemia, resulting in reduced protein synthesis, muscle mass, strength, and basal metabolic rate. While insulin is necessary for individuals with type 1 or extreme type 2 diabetes, such as myself, it merely compensates for a deficiency… Putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound. This is all important because I don’t have typical symptoms. I have all of the above, plus more that I am not going to get into here. This doesn’t just affect all of the stuff above but also my mood, energy levels, mobility, sleep, mental focus and all around decent quality of life.

Attempted Exercise Through This Has Been Very Difficult…

I often feel nauseated while trying to lift in the gym now. I have to train at a gym because of the Air Condition. I cannot train at my home gym as much due to the heat in there. It’s May now. By 11 AM it’s over 100 degrees in there. Sure I got fans just pushing hot air all around. So I go to a gym to get some lifting in. I can no longer handle the heat and humidity of southwest Florida in a physical way. Especially in summer. At the air conditioned gym I will be fine for a few sets and then all the sudden I get super light-headed, vision starts to go. My blood sugars start to drop, fast. I have almost blacked out in the gym a few times, not even working very hard by what I deem is hard work by my own standard. This was getting worse by the week. Finally after a horrible few days with digestion, I was sick in bed for 2 days and spent another 2 days just feeling super weak and dehydrated. I didn’t eat much so I didn’t need much insulin. I lost 6 pounds in 3 days. I decided that changes need to be made. I went ahead and began to jot down what I do in the gym and how it relates to diabetics. I looked into what actually happens to the muscle fibers, the metabolism. With training, the workout is only a 4^th of what you need to be doing.

Diet, Rest, Exercise and Repeat…

Repeat is the one most either forget or straight-up ignore. If you do not make a thing, anything habitual, one will never be elite at it. You wanna be fit? Make the process habit-forming so that it is part of you. This also works in other areas of life. I also epically fail at self-identifying this at times and it isn’t something someone else, any one person or even group, can force upon me with the expectation that will solve the learning curve. I need to see it for myself in my own way. That is what life is really all about.

Self-Identifying on Your Own Reflection in the River Bed…

I don’t grow, muscle mass-wise. I also do not shred weight easily. I cannot handle the heat well. My blood sugar plummets in an environment like an uninsulated garage-gym in southwest Florida summer. Sugars are always all over the place but when at rest my body is semi-stable. It’s these shocks of the body that throw me off to wear I will have issues. My flexibility and dexterity is really bad. I used to be flexible but over the course of a couple of years I started having all sorts of issues. Along with neuropathy there are other aliments related to flexibility and dexterity.

Glycation of joints refers to a process where sugar molecules in the bloodstream bind to proteins within the joints, forming harmful compounds known as advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). This process can contribute to inflammation, stiffness, and damage to joint tissues over time, leading to conditions such as osteoarthritis. Glycation of joints can really affect joint flexibility, dexterity and there is research to back this up. The worse your control of your blood sugars are the more potential for joint mobility issues increase dramatically. For full range of motion for fill contractile force of all the muscle fibers throughout and exercise is going to be compromised moving forward… For athletes managing type 2 diabetes, incorporating strength training alongside aerobic exercises is crucial for controlling blood sugar levels. Strength training engages the body's glycolytic system. Promotes weight loss, reduces visceral fat, and increases insulin sensitivity. Benefits heart health, bone density, and muscle mass. Helps control hypertension. Can improve complications from neuropathy and vision loss. Strength training plays a role in glycemic control and quality of life for type 2 diabetics, especially when combined with cardiovascular exercises. You may notice your blood glucose rise for up to an hour with intense activity, such as weight lifting—but don’t worry. It’s due to the initial stress of pushing your body hard, and it’s more than offset by the improvements in insulin sensitivity and other benefits derived from anaerobic exercise…

The stress of managing diabetes, compounded by fluctuations in blood glucose levels during training, can hinder progress.

Making Modifications:

First things first… The workout… Switched from 4 times a week at the gym to 3. More stretching and other non-weight training on rest days. Consuming a protein shake of at least 30g, 30-minutes before a workout regardless if I ate before I trained or not. No more super sets. As much as I love super sets and drop sets I just cannot do them as a sustained form of training. I have to train smarter, not harder. One of the things about diabetics, they do not heal fast. This also includes muscle fiber breakdown and rebuild. Just making each set count, ample rest between sets, capped the workout when the number of sets is reached. Not much is working right now. I am lucky to look decent and still have some decent physical strength. I go through spurts where I can train hard and other days/weeks where my body just won’t let me. My diet isn’t terrible for someone in my condition but not exactly on point for someone trying to make gains in the gym with my server limitations. Simply trying to be Rocky Balboa and just keep getting up when you get knocked down doesn’t really work in real life when your body is literally broken. This isn’t a mental block. This is a body block that hinders the mind once the body begins to fail.

So Much Fun…

Below is my old gym workout and below that is the new routine. Tighten up the diet. Exercise smarter not harder. Rocky isn’t real-life. Rest, deeply and repeat the process. This isn’t really radical what I am doing here but for me, personally, it sort of is. This isn’t what I am used to. I am used to doing things at a high level. This is the first time I have looked at my fitness with my issues in mind rather than something I can outright beat in a fist fight.

“The enormous mental resilience, without which no Chess player can exist, was so much taken up by Chess that he could never free his mind of this game.” ~Albert Einstein

Old Workout:

My old routine consisted of a four day split:

Monday – Chest/Lats/Back:

– 2 sets of chest flies or chest machine (stretch).

– Flat bench, start with 155 on the bar for 8 reps going up 20 lbs each set and dropping the rep range by 2 reps every increase till I hit a one max rep.

– 2 sets of flat dumbbell chest press 8-10 reps.

– 3 sets of incline bench press of 10-12 reps.

– 3 sets of front lateral pull down, super set with wide grip body building type pull ups. 12-15 reps on the pull down and as many as I can do for pullups with good form.

– 2-3 sets of another back/lat exercise of my choice, 12-15 reps.

Tuesday – Legs:

I can only use a special squat bar due to my shoulder flexibility.

– Squats, 3 sets, 8-12 reps with the bar (warm-up)

– Squats, 3 sets, 8 reps, 135 on the bar.

– Squats, 1 set, 4 reps, 185 on the bar.

– Leg extensions, 3 sets, 10-15.

– Hack squats, 2 sets, 8-10 reps.

Wednesday - Rest Day:

Thursday - Arms:

I usually do 6 sets for biceps and 6 sets for triceps. 6 sets equal 6 super sets which is actually 2 exercises per set. I will do assorted exercises for each biceps and triceps.

– Biceps – 6 sets, 12-15 reps, super set, w/ another bicep exercise, 12-15 reps.

– Triceps – 6 sets, 12-15 reps, super set, w/ another bicep exercise, 12-15 reps.

Friday - Shoulders:

Limited due to flexibility issues.

– 2 sets, 10-15 reps, front deltoids.

– 2 sets, 10-15 reps, side deltoids.

– 2 sets, 10-15 reps, rear deltoids.

– 2-3 sets, 10-15 reps, shoulder presses of some kind.

Light-Cardio:

– Each workout day has a 2.5 mile walk, usually 4-6x/wk.

New Workout:

My new routine consists of a 3 day split (Monday/Wednesday/Friday):

Monday - Chest, Back, Legs, Shoulders:

– Warm-up, 5-10 minutes of dynamic stretching and mobility exercises.

– Chest – dumbbell flies – 2 sets of chest flies or chest machine (stretch).

– Flat bench press - 3 sets, 8-10 reps.

– Dumbbell press - 3 sets, 10-12 reps.

– Back – Lat pulldowns, 3 sets, 8-10 reps.

– Assisted pull-ups, 3 sets, 10-12 reps.

– Legs – Squats w/ special bar, leg press or hack squat machine, 3 sets of 8-10 reps.

– Leg extensions - 3 sets, 10-12 reps.

– Shoulders – 2 sets, 10-12 reps, front deltoids.

– 2 sets, 10-12 reps, side deltoids.

– 2 sets, 10-12 reps, rear deltoids.

– 2-3 sets, 8-10 reps, shoulder presses of some kind.

– Cool down – 5-10 minutes of light cardio or stretching.

Tuesday - Rest Day:

Wednesday - Chest, Back, Legs, Shoulders: