Donating Blood and working out

utes09

I'm donating blood later today and already had today set aside as a rest day for exercise. My question is would I be ok to workout tomorrow?? I was planning on a 4 mile run in the morning....or should I just do a workout video instead?

Pebble321

Ask at your blood bank - I'm pretty sure mine says wait 24 hours to work out.
Make sure you drink plenty of water before and after you donate.

Barneystinson

I'd wait about 24 hours. Donating blood does affect everyone differently, though. If you're close to the weight cut off, you may feel more fatigued as your % bloss loss / body mass ratio is greater than a person with larger body mass.

I always try to eat an iron-rich meal of red meat the evening after donating blood.

scouter318

Like Barney says - donating affects everyone differently - but from my experience, I'd play tennis about 5 hours after donating and I'd feel fine. The only thing I wouldn't do is lift any weights. If you're not into eating too much meat, you can also make a vegetable broth with green leafy veggies like chard or kale, with some herbs or lemon and a little olive oil. I used to drink that the night before giving blood to make sure I passed that hemoglobin test!

Great that you're donating!

girlinahat

I scuba dive and rock climb. Both are not recommended for 24 hours after donating blood.

I suppose it depends on how intense your run is.

cathcakey

More of the same, I wait at least 24 hours, becaue I normally have the occassional light headedness for the day afterwards. I have relatively low blood pressure, so I need at least a few hours to get my blood volume back up to normal (drink lots of water!)

utes09

The drinking water shouldn't be too much of a problem from me. I average between 15-20 glasses a day already.