Where to Put Your Pump Whist Exercising

If you're a regular reader of the blog, then you'll know I spend some time talking about how good exercising is for your diabetes. It helps manage your weight, lowers your blood sugars (as long as you don't exercise whilst high) and it makes you feel generally fit and healthy. But if you're on an insulin pump the question remains what do you do with your pump whilst exercising?

When I first went onto an insulin pump it was an especially important question for me, because firstly I trained outside and couldn't allow the type of pump I had to get wet. And secondly because the pump I had at the time didn't have a clip on it like my current one, that you can hook onto your waistband for short periods of time. Initially I managed to find an arm strap that would normally of carried something like an MP3 player or a mobile phone. It wasn't water proof, but I could feed my pump wire from it's site, whether the needle was in my stomach or my hip and then around to my arm and secure it with the velcro strap. The only problem with this other than the lack of water-proofness was that when I trained for blocks... (Where your feet are on pads and your arms placed parallel on the ground) the sudden movement of the start would tug on the wire, so much so that I had to take my pump had to come off.

But then I discovered wearing running leggings with zip pockets in them. The first pair I had, had a zip at the centre back point of the legging that was just big enough to fit my pump in when I exercised. When zipped it was sealed and didn't move around and because the pants had a drawstring waist and cuffs of silicone on the bottom they didn't fall down with the weight of the pump. I've managed to find another pair since from a leading sports retail brand that has a zip pocket on one side, and an open pocket on the other which is great. I can zip it up when I'm sprinting and doing more dynamic movements, and if I'm doing something more stationary such as weight lifting where I might still want to have access to the pump- then I can leave it in the open pocket and still get to it.

Although I should mention that my pump now, has an audio bolus feature on it- which means at the touch of a button you can give insulin without having to be able to see the pump. (Great for evenings out and fitted dresses). It uses single vibrations and vibrates back to you when you tell it how many units of insulin you want to give. The only downside to wearing a pump in your back pocket is that it gives an unusual silhouette when wearing fitted lycra. But the pros far out-way the cons so I would suggest giving it ago if someone wished to participate in sport but didn't know what to do with the pump.