Giving Blood

[Monkfish]

Need opinions and information guys and gals...

I started giving blood a little while ago. I trained the first evening afterwards and was light headed/weak on that session, so had a look around the net and noticed that they say to leave 24hrs before exercising.

Later I saw somewhere that they used to reccommend leaving 3-4 days after donating before doing any strenuous exercise. Now, they wont take blood more often than ever 4 months, so something must be taking a lot longer than 24hrs OR 3-4 days to recover?!

Does anyone have any information on what is being depleated, and for how long? Are there any good ways to maximise recovery or prepare? I'm told a ton of fluids on the day can help you out.

The truth is, I've got a monster squat session booked in with a really good training partener (a rare opportunity!) and dont want to miss it, however I will have leaked a pint of red stuff just 9hrs beforehand!

Aside from being the perfect alibi for lifting like bambi, what else is giving blood doing, and how does it impact on nutrition/exercise?

There are a few bits of info around, but I'd really like some other peoples' experiences (or a thesis from NU! ) to help limit its impact. I've already read a study where professional cyclists were down on their wattage for a month after donating and could only do so off-season!!

[Ripped Barbarian]

Well, losing blood will have instant negative effects on exercise capability as it reduces red blood cell count instantly (it of course reduces respiration capability)
It depends on the severity of blood loss as to how bad it is and they certainly won't endanger your life doing this (hence why they won't take regularly)
Most big (190-200lb range) healthy men could lose a pint and still train, we've been doing it through our evolution.

I wouldn't recommend exercising heavily after giving blood, give it a few days at least, when they say excersise they most likely mean a few sets with 5kg dumbells and 10 minutes walking on the treadmill.

Providing you are in good health and eating a nourishing diet your body should regenerate most of the blood cells within several days/a week. (it does vary) if you are a chav, or have severe radiation poisoning etc it will take longer.

Damn, all this talk of blood is making me thirsty.

[comanight2]

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or have severe radiation poisoning etc it will take longer.

you should always pop a rad-x and a few radaways during and after training eh? :P

[Ripped Barbarian]

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you should always pop a rad-x and a few radaways during and after training eh? :P

Brilliant game!

I was actually trying to think of conditions which cause reductions in blood cell regeneration, most of them are likely very serious.

Radiation poisoning actually affects white blood cell counts most of all (because they have high turnover in the body), red blood cell not so much.
Basically, unless you are very ill/severe nutrient deficiency your body should regenerate blood cells fairly quickly.

[Weaves]

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if you are a chav it will take longer

[Wotan]

Your red blood count actually returns to normal very, very quickly. The body carries a resevoir in the spleen which kicks in virtually straight away. People who feel light-headed after a session (or even during it) have generally neglected to eat properly before and afterwards or rehydrate themselves fully afterwards.

As a donor of 47 acknowledged sessions I can tell you straight away that I have never felt bad afterwards, ever. On the the other hand I make sure that I have a pint or so of tea and a couple of sandwiches before and after the session. The ones that I have seen faint are the ones that have a handful of cornflakes for breakfast and then sip a little beaker of orange squash before rushing back to work.

The real reason that you asked not to give more than three times per year is nothing to do with eventually becoming anaemic. (I used to give four times a year and again never failed the "iron test"). It is much more to do with becoming depressed, believe it or not, which is correlated with very slightly lowered iron levels apparantly.

Even after giving blood incidentally I always used to go back to (physical) work. Personally I wouldn't worry about it.

[Monkfish]

Cheers, I'll eat a ton of food (any excuse!) and hyper hydrate