If you go all out in training, you should pay attention to the right timing when donating blood. Find out how to avoid drops in performance and dizziness.
A runner reports in an article by Runner's World about an unpleasant experience when donating blood. Immediately after the needle was removed, she was overcome by a hot flush and severe dizziness, so she had to lie flat and cool her neck. The reason for this was quickly found: she had completed an intensive interval training session the day before. This experience shows that athletic training and blood donation must be precisely coordinated.
In endurance sports, the body needs a lot of iron and optimal oxygen uptake to supply the muscles and organs. According to Dr. Tamanna Singh from the Sports Cardiology Center of the Cleveland Clinic, runners already put a heavy strain on their bodies in this regard. The hard impact of the feet on the ground damages red blood cells, which further promotes iron loss. Anyone who donates blood gives away around ten percent of their blood supply in one go – in Europe, this is usually about 450 millilitres. Female runners in particular often have lower iron stores anyway due to menstruation and are prone to unnoticed iron deficiency anaemia. A deficiency can manifest itself through fatigue, drops in performance or an unusually high heart rate during training.
Dr. Singh strongly advises against donating blood during intensive training phases, immediately before or shortly after a competition. The best time is the off-season between two training blocks, when you are only maintaining your running volume. Within this phase, you should schedule the donation on a rest day. Under no circumstances should you donate on a day with tempo runs, the day before, or before a long run. After a race, you should wait as many days to donate as you need for recovery – a common guideline is one day of rest per race mile run.
In addition, the expert recommends that runners possibly reduce their donation frequency to two to three times a year. For comparison: in Tschechien, a maximum of four times a year for men and three times for women with an interval of at least ten weeks is recommended to prevent anaemia. If you are unsure, you should have your ferritin levels checked by a doctor.
Your takeaway: It is best to donate blood only during the off-season on training-free days, so as not to jeopardise your recovery and your iron levels.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.