Giving Blood?? How much of a negative effect on performance??
scott_burrows
Posts: 381
in General Chat
I like to regularly give blood, however I was advised against it while training over the summer for my first Tri. Now I’m into the winter training and I don’t have any serious competitions in the next 3 months (just X-country league with my running club) can I give blood without it seriously effecting my performance/training?? I have a theory... If I give blood and continue with the same amount of exercise, my body has to work harder and more efficiently to cope and therefore this makes me fitter in the long run. Although my performance may actually decrease in the short term... Does anyone have any thoughts?
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Comments
I think it only takes a few days to a week for the blood to recover to normal levels.
I don't know about your theory but I'd be inclined to give it a few days before getting the trainers out but you should be ok after that.
Seriously? Is this legal or not?
If you are elite you can expect to be tested for abnormally high RBC count, I think. It is not 'legal' in racing terms.
I also thought blood doping is a lazy way to altitude train though to be honest I`m not sure if you get more rbc or just quicker physiological adaptations (more capillaries etc). If you do get more rbc from altitude training how do the testers know you havent doped?
(Are the bags of blood stored in your support vehicles with your name on them a give away!!)
Either way, the only way to get fitter is to train more/harder/longer - There are no legal shortcuts,
Two days later is a different story, run as hard as you like, you won't feel the difference. Again from my experience.
Disclaimer: your physiology may be different. Best way I guess is to ask the nurses. I'm sure they've answered the question before.
This is my experience pretty much. I'd probably avoid donating in the week of a race, but otherwise, just leave it a couple of days.
Just because someone takes up triathlon, obviously this doesn't absolve them from social responsibility. Hopefully it never happens to anyone, but it you get knocked off your bike you might end up needing blood yourself.
<Jules steps down from moral high ground and remembers he ducked his last donation session as he was busy. Where is the embarrassed smiley?>