To prevent a dip in blood sugar, try not eating anything for three hours pre-workout. Hear me out: Unless you’ve been fasting for 24 hours or just ran a marathon, your liver and muscles have plenty of stored glycogen (a bunch of sugar molecules joined together) to sustain your energy during exercise. Plus, eating triggers the release of the hormone insulin, which tells the cells in your body to absorb sugar out of your blood. Not only does exercise make your cells more sensitive to insulin, but it opens up additional “sugar” gates within muscle cells, which equals—you got it—a drop in blood sugar.
As for blood pressure, staying hydrated (drink at least 12 ounces of water during exercise) and warming up and cooling down for five minutes or more can help regulate levels. And if lactic acid buildup is the issue, the problem should go away over time as your bod adjusts to intense workouts.
