As I’ve written about before, I have adopted the Paleo lifestyle and it has allowed this Type 2 Diabetic to live with normal blood sugar levels without medicine.

Part of this Paleo lifestyle involves exercising like our Paleolithic ancestors did – running fast for short time periods and lifting heavy stuff (preferably not on exercise equipment). So once I adopted this lifestyle I altered my workouts to move away from endurance type activities (long runs, 2 hour bike rides, etc.) and switched to weight training, interval training and other high intensity workouts. This new workout regime has worked well for me but due to work/life duties I rarely have the opportunity to participate in a really intense Paleo style workout so I was excited with the fact that this past weekend presented a chance to really push this mid 40’s body.

We had a large dead tree in our backyard and after contracting a professional to cut it down I requested they leave the main trunk so I could use a chain saw and axe to bust it up into firewood. What’s more Paleolithic than cutting up a tree to get firewood?

I spent 4 hours cutting the tree into smaller sections with a chainsaw and then using an axe, splitting the wood into smaller pieces suitable for a fireplace. I am not going to lie – Every muscle in my body ached after that activity and the following days will brutal as the muscle soreness sets in!

On the day I did this work I checked my blood sugar levels after dinner to see what effect that workout had. It should be noted that normal (non-diabetic) blood sugars 2 hours after a meal can be in the 100-130 mg/dL range and that is where mine normally fall but after that night’s meal – large salad (lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, egg, jalapenos, tomatoes, turkey, vinegar and oil) – my blood sugar measurement was 83!

If you think about it, high intensity workouts should benefit your blood sugar levels. After taxing your muscles, your body will have a desire to replenish the fuel in your muscles (glycogen) with any blood sugar it can find and this process of turning blood sugar into glycogen will drop your blood sugar measurements.

I plan to look for more opportunities like this to participate in high intensity Paleolithic workouts.