Iron is among the most important nutrients every endurance athlete needs to keep energy levels up and improve their athletic performance. When your blood doesn’t have enough iron, it can cause health issues that have a negative impact on your performance.
Learn more about why your iron level is important, how it affects endurance training and what to do if you don’t have enough of this nutrient.
Effects of Iron on Endurance Training
Your iron level can have a significant impact on how well you perform. Your body needs this nutrient in order to maintain enough energy for endurance training.
When you have a low amount of ferritin, a protein that stores and releases iron in your blood, you can end up suffering from symptoms that affect your performance, such as fatigue. This makes it more difficult for you to continue building endurance.
It also makes it harder for your body to recover after training. Raising your iron level helps ensure that you have plenty of energy for training and that you’re able to recover in a shorter amount of time, which can improve your performance.
Increasing Your Iron Level
If you have a low iron level in your blood, you can increase it by eating foods that contain this nutrient and by taking supplements with iron. Foods that have iron include spinach, fish, meat and poultry, but keep in mind that your body might absorb this nutrient at a low rate. Including vitamin C in your diet by eating certain foods, such as citrus fruits and tomatoes, can help your body absorb more iron.
Endurance supplements provide another way for you to build up iron in your blood for an improved performance. These supplements, such as EP-NO, are designed to be easy for your body to absorb the iron in them.
Iron Level Measurements
Having your iron level measured before taking endurance supplements is crucial. Taking these supplements when you have adequate supplies of iron in your blood can have serious health consequences that could be life-threatening.
These health problems can occur if your body ends up absorbing too much iron. See your doctor to have your iron level measured, and only take supplements with iron if you have a low level.
Your doctor can check your iron level with a blood test that measures ferritin and hemoglobin. If you have symptoms of iron deficiency or if you’re at a higher risk of being iron deficient, such as if you’re a female endurance athlete, plan on having your iron level checked from time to time to make sure you have an adequate level of this nutrient.
If your iron level could use a boost, ProLine Sports Nutrition has what you need. We offer endurance supplements to help you improve training and reduce the time it takes you to recover.
Keep in mind that during April, we’re offering 10 percent off on EP-NO Blood Builder, which contains iron and other important nutrients that are easy for your body to absorb.
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