I'm a big believer in giving blood and do so whenever I can (every 3/4months).
Now when you donate they take around 500ml (around 1/8th of your blood). They say not to do intense exercise for 24hrs and the blood will rejuvinate within a few days. But surely with your donation goes lots and lots of red blood cells (that carry oxygen to the muscles) that you've worked so hard to get. These surely cannot redevelop back to the full capacity on their own, and therefore by giving blood you're taking a backwards step in your fitness. Donating blood is almost the reverse process of blood doping - instead of swopping your blood for some fully charged with red cells, you're giving 1/8th of them away! daft for anyone working hard to constantly improve fitness.
Am I right with my theory? and has anyone else felt terrible during training for some weeks after donating? :cane:
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Former Member
It is said the old Soviet's used to draw blood before hard training and then replace it before big competitions.
