Donating Blood/Working Out

ChristiH4000
ChristiH4000 Posts: 531 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Strangers on a Red Cross Bus will take my blood this afternoon at 12:30. I usually do a pretty intense work out after work about 5:30 pm on Thursdays. They advise donors not to do any strenuous activity for several hours after donating.
If I properly hydrate and load up on a little extra protein, am I still good to work out? I'm even willing to drop the intensity a bit or take yoga, but I really don't want to skip my Thursday. I've done a fairly craptacular job watching my calories this week, and I have a new work out shirt to wear.
Any blood donors out there with some advice?

Replies

  • seebeachrun
    seebeachrun Posts: 221 Member
    See how you feel afterwards. I had a bad reaction and ended up being out for the day. Plus it took two weeks for my arm to stop hurting. I guess I am hypersensitive or they acidentally hit a nerve because they didn't seem to know why I was haivng such a bad reaction. I still want to try to donate at least one more time to see if I can. But working out afterwards was definitely out of the question for me.
  • frillypantz
    frillypantz Posts: 134
    I'd say go for it. stop if you start feeing faint or dizzy x
  • bjfrezell
    bjfrezell Posts: 241
    There was a post on these forums last week about this subject. The general consensus was not to do your workout afterwards - it's not worth the risk.
  • ChristiH4000
    ChristiH4000 Posts: 531 Member
    Thanks for the advice. I'll look for that post from last week.
  • gem057
    gem057 Posts: 12
    be careful, I gave blood last week and had been quite low on calorie intake and doing extra walks etc, on Saturday morning I got up for a loo trip and fainted, I now have a plastercast on as I broke a bone in my wrist when I fell. Had loads of heart and bllod pressure checks after and all was fine so they put it down to a combination of all the above.
  • mistylovesmusic
    mistylovesmusic Posts: 147
    Kudos to you for saving lives! =) I would take the advice of the donor center. I'm a faithful blood donor and sometimes on the evening of donation, I get a little woosey. Maybe yoga is okay but I'd be careful about running outside or on a treadmill or some type of machine. I think the biggest worry is getting light headed and passing out. Good luck!
  • ChristiH4000
    ChristiH4000 Posts: 531 Member
    I found the post from last week and the response was overwhelmingly in favor of taking it easy. Definitely don't want to hurt myself and put myself out of commission for any longer than a day so I think yoga will do it tonight. I'm certain I can handle that. Will watching The Avengers tomorrow burn any calories?
  • mrsnathanandrew
    mrsnathanandrew Posts: 631 Member
    As one of those strangers that takes peoples blood, I don't recommend it, just to be safe.
  • lad323
    lad323 Posts: 82 Member
    I've donated blood in the morning and then worked out after work. I felt fine at first (15 minutes) but then my energy level went down fast. If you normally feel fine after donating blood a easy/light workout should be okay (note I have no medical experience) but if you start feeling bad slow down or stop, don't push yourself at all.

    ***I wish post had spell check***
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    Please note its not just about the possibility of being faint or weak; if you are doing arm workouts you are risking the possibility of rebleeding.
  • Skeena4
    Skeena4 Posts: 209 Member
    I would say a leisurely walk is okay - I wouldn't do the hard workout after donating blood. Your body is already working hard to replace the lost fluids, your blood pressure drops and blood loss triggers all kinds of adrenaline responses (your body doesn't know you're willfully giving blood, you could have been shot for all it knows)
    Don't forget to rehydrate (I was told 4 extra glasses of water, in addition to the juice they give you right after)
    :-) Thanks for donating!!
  • Zombierawr
    Zombierawr Posts: 95 Member
    Can I just say as someone who has had far too many blood transfusions, thank you for donating? :)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    No! You should take it easy. Extra sugar would help more than protein, but neither is going to do much. You simply need to give your body time to replace what it lost. A leisurely walk would be fine if you feel like it, but you shouldn't even do that if you feel the least bit weak or light-headed. And it would be wise not to go alone.
  • ChristiH4000
    ChristiH4000 Posts: 531 Member
    Can I just say as someone who has had far too many blood transfusions, thank you for donating? :)

    You're welcome! My dad has donated regularly for 30 years and inspired me to participate. I've only been giving for a couple of years when my iron isn't too low, but I'll give as long as I'm able.

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