subject: Combating Anemia And Loss Of Motivation [print this page] Working out consistently can be difficult enough without the added condition of anemia. Fortunately, most anemic conditions are treatable.
There are many things that can affect your ability to put all of your effort into your daily exercise routine. One affliction that many people are unaware of is anemia.
Anemia is a condition which can cause you to feel very tired. It is caused by a condition in your body in which your body produces too few red blood cells.
Red blood cells are critical for making sure that your muscles get enough oxygen. If your muscles and other tissues do not get enough oxygen while you are working out, they will not be able to perform to their standard level.
These red blood cells are also important for helping the organs that are synthesized in the bone marrow. The body has to continually make these blood cells as each cell only has a lifetime of about 120 days and you may lose some when you get a scratch or other type of wound.
Men and women have different levels of red blood cells that they need to constantly maintain. This different is caused by the different levels of androgen hormones that men and women have in their bodies.
In addition to assisting your muscles, oxygen is critical to your body's ability to burn calories. If you are not able to lose weight like you should, you may get discouraged and quit exercising altogether.
However, exercising can still provide you with many benefits that you can enjoy despite anemia. One of the components of a red blood cell is iron.
Iron is critical to the construction of a protein called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a component of red blood cells and it is the part that is responsible for carrying the oxygen.
If your body is experiencing a lack of iron, that could be the cause of your anemia. Without iron, your body cannot make new red blood cells.
Lack of iron resulting in anemia is sometimes referred to as 'tired blood.' This is the most common cause of anemia and luckily, easily remedied in most cases.
If you suspect that you may have anemia because of abnormal tiredness while exercising, you can easily be tested for it. All it takes is a finger prick or having some blood drawn so that it can be tested to see how many red blood cells you have.
The two tests that will be done on your blood will be a plasma test and hemoglobin test. The plasma test will measure how many red blood cells are found in your plasma.
The average, healthy person should have between 36 and 46 percent red blood cells in their plasma. The hemoglobin test will find how many grams of hemoglobin per 100 milliliters of blood volume you have.
The average, healthy woman should have between 12 and 15 grams of hemoglobin per 100 milliliters of blood volume. If you are below the 36 percent or the 12 grams, you could be diagnosed with anemia.
However, sometimes some women have a normal level that is slightly lower than those mentioned above. This is usually the case in women who swim, bicycle, run, or do other hard aerobic training on a consistent basis.
There is nothing wrong with this, but simply a benefit provided through exercise as an increased efficient body. However, if you fall below your normal anemia level you could still experience problems.
It is important for you to know that women need to eat twice as much iron as men. If you eat less than you should, you could cause health problems.
Not only will you experience health problems related to anemia such as tiredness, but you may suffer loss of the positive health benefits of exercising. For example, if you love running on the treadmill and you have a set routine, but constantly feel tired from anemia while doing so, you may lose your motivation to run.
If you do not remedy the anemia, you may slowing start running on the treadmill less and less. As you run less often on the treadmill, you will not be able to enjoy the benefits of sleeping better and feeling more energized.
Even though the anemia makes you feel tired, exercise can combat it a little through helping you feel happier and slightly more energetic than you would if you did not exercise at all. There are also many other benefits that you receive from working out on the treadmill that you may lose if you do not get your anemic condition treated when you are diagnosed.
