Thalassemia minor and cycling

yiannism

I live in the med sea that thalassemia is pretty common 10-20% of the population. I have thalassemia minor B and it wasnt problem in my life until i had a discussion on a ride with a nutritionist. She told me that my struggles on the long climbs and more time to recover after a tough ride is coming from that. Before that talk i thought that it was from my weight (i am 180-87kg) and i smoke a bit, but i never thought about the disease. I am pretty healthy, i am not getting cold easily i even been blood donor ( when my hemoglobin is not very low )

So i wanted to know if someone experience the same with me and what did to improve the condition, cuz i really love the long rides and the bicycle in general. I know that i will never be a champion, and i didnt plan to do, i just want to be able to follow the team without falling behind. On the recent 6 months i did huge improvements but i am working way harder than the others to achieve that, so any advice that can make my life easier will greatly appreciated

svetty

Your nutritionist would be better advised to stick to her area of expertise and not speculate on the extent to which your thalassaemia might limit your aerobic potential.

You can't change your thalassaemia, you can lose weight