Giving Blood and training

ravey1981

I'm currently training for a summer cyclocross season and a few sportives. I am also a blood donor and I'm due to give blood soon. Given that they say it takes up to 2 weeks for the red blood cells to replace themselves is giving blood going to have a big impact on my performance? Its not like I've been training at altitude or anything so I've nothing more than normal blood.

Just interested if anyone has any info on this subject.

smiley_boy2501

I've been thinking about this recently and came to some conclusions:

Given the average human body contains 5 litres, the blood loss would be 10% and essentially replaced with serum in the immediate future(mostly with water I would have thought).

Therefore with an average red blood cell percentage of 45 in males then you're losing to around 40. So given anaemia is less than 38 you'll still be considered as normal.

If you're training intensely haemoglobin can drop a bit but eventually rebounds during rest (i think) so you could be a bit lower than normal.

My guess is you'll feel a bit more short of breath for a few rides or less but not notice thereafter. Your times may take hit but in the end the physiological changes occurring during/after training will be the same.

Just my thoughts....

smiley_boy2501

Oh and christ I once swam after giving blood. Worst experience of my life. Felt like someone had stolen the air. Don't ride afterwards! :shock:

twotyred

From your sig I assume you are 34. When I was 34 I could give blood and ride OK more or less straight afterwards. Felt a bit sluggish on the bike for a couple of days then Ok after that. As I got older started to feel a longer and longer drop off in performance to the point where I now only give blood in autumn/winter when I'm not training for anything.

keef66

I still give blood and ride. I'm now 57 so I give it a couple of days, and then I don't go flat out. I don't ride competitively, so the slight drop-off in performance doesn't concern me at all.

I used to be able to donate and ride the same day but now that makes me feel a bit odd. I've been anaemic before and put on iron tablets, so I know what that feels like.

Pands

Im 29, gave blood and could tell the difference for about 2 weeks after... first ride out was horrible hah.

How close are your events to giving blood?

ravey1981

I've got CX races fortnightly on Wednesdays all summer and sportives chucked in sporadically. I'll have to find a window of opportunity.... Thanks for the comments so far.

diy

I used to do it when I was younger and it absolutely destroyed me for a couple of days training.. Can't say it was noticeable after a week.

My problem now is getting the stuff out without me ending up as a heap on the floor - I have low resting HR (mid 30s normally) and I get vasevogal syncope response, to needles which is amplified by the low HR.

So I have to go for hard workout first - eat loads and hope my HR stays high enough to get through the response.

jasonbrim

After I give blood I find I can do a recovery that afternoon/evening (but not a long ride and I have to be strict to not push otherwise it doesn't feel good.) Then I find I can do normal rides 1 day or 2 days after giving blood, but intense interval sessions require a few more days.

Last September I gave blood on a Wednesday and rode 260 km solo on the Friday without feeling too bad (my longest ride to date as well, by about 80 km). So I don't see why you can't give blood and train and race, you just need to eat and drink correctly to help you, and that means before giving blood as well as after. But I would suggest giving blood after one of your races, and then you should be amply recovered by the next race.