red cross weight limits for giving blood

hypothesized that this was because the drop in overall blood volume from the plasma loss interfered with anaerobic capacity. The results of plasma donation are more interesting:Īlthough the plasma donation resulted in no change in VO2 max at any point, time to exhaustion was decreased two hours post-donation, but not two days or one week out. VO2 max was still 10% and 7% lower than pre-donation levels at two and seven days post-donation, respectively. VO2 max dropped by 15% and time to exhaustion decreased by 19% during the exercise test two hours after a blood donation. They found that both VO2 max and time to exhaustion were negatively impacted in the immediate aftermath of a whole blood donation. The researchers measured both time to exhaustion and maximum oxygen consumption, or VO2 max, during each of the four tests. Finally, we are going to show you 4 ways to limit the negative effects and explain how to recover from giving blood faster.Ĭan you run after giving blood? Let’s find out.Ī 2013 study by David Hill, Jakob Vingren, and Samatha Burdette examined the short-term effects of donating blood and plasma on a cycling endurance test in nineteen test subjects.Įach subject underwent a ride to exhaustion on a stationary bike before giving blood or plasma, and again two hours, two days, and seven days after the donation. If you are wondering about running before giving blood, we will explain the pros and cons, and give you some guidelines about blood donation recovery time. Today we are going to look at how much does giving blood or plasma affect your running performance. Though blood donation is lifesaving, runners are often hesitant to give blood because we wonder will giving blood affect your running?

Well, maybe not if it can save somebody’s life.ĭonating blood is an admirable endeavor-according to the American Red Cross, over 41,000 blood donations are required every day in the United States, and given the short shelf life of whole blood and plasma, there’s a constant need for blood. That is why k eeping your iron levels high enough is critical to running well.ĭoing anything that would decrease your body’s oxygen-carrying potential would be crazy right? Without enough oxygen, your body is quickly plunged into acidosis, the deep burning sensation in your legs that you feel at the end of a race or a hard workout. The more oxygen-carrying power your blood has, the faster you can run. There’s not much that’s more essential to your running (and your life) than your blood.

Red cross weight limits for giving blood