Donating blood and cycling performance

[TNT1]

interesting... i would have thought it would be immediately noticeable.

 

they take about 1/7th of it out during donation.

 

Yeah, and you notice it, but if you are fit, and donate on the monday, by the sunday, you are aces. Well, I was. Of course, I can still comfortably hit 200+ BPM at the pointy end, so maybe I'm just a freak.

[Bateleur1]

Yeah, and you notice it, but if you are fit, and donate on the monday, by the sunday, you are aces. Well, I was. Of course, I can still comfortably hit 200+ BPM at the pointy end, so maybe I'm just a freak.

 

We all know you're a freak

[seven]

It takes roughly 4-6 weeks to normalise all the blood components.

Its basically the reverse of blood doping... The initial 2/3 days that you feel really bad is due to the blood volume (fluid) that is lost. You replace this fairly fast, that is why you feel better after about 2 days.

 

Red blood cells (that carry oxygen) are also lost, and they take several weeks to normalise... So if it is a big event, donating would probably affect you for up to about a month after.

Edited May 26, 2012 by seven