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I just gave blood, can I workout?
By Christina | February 12, 2009
I was sitting in the chair, arm connected to a tube syphoning blood away from me and into a bag when I realized, “I have to run 7 miles tomorrow morning.” It was at that moment that I decided to get home, power up the laptop and get some information.
The good news I have helped save a few lives and feel really terrific about myself. The bad news is I am not supposed to do much exercise for 48 hours. It seems to be fine to do some exercise but when it says to diminish the intensity, I am guessing that a planned 7 mile run is not diminished intensity.
Research shows it takes the body approximately 8 weeks to fully recover from a blood donation. Immediately after a donation of one pint, your blood volume is lowered by close to ten percent and returns to normal in 48 hours. An added perk was that I should be weighing one pound less right now. Of course, in a few glasses of water time, that will be back to normal. For 48 hours following your donation, you should drink plenty of liquids and take it easy. Donating blood markedly reduces competitive performance for three to four weeks as it takes that long for blood hemoglobin levels to return to normal.
