Hemoglobin: The Forgotten Limiter to Cycling Training & Performance

Discussing the importance of catering your cycling training and recovery measures towards maintenance of sufficient hemoglobin levels.
If you are interested in the science behind high performance cycling, I'd recommend reading this study in it's entirety: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36404...
Want more videos from me? Check out The NERO Show here, new videos every week: • The Nero Cycling Show

[@melbournecyclingsegments7510]

Lying here cooked after a big day.. Listening to the soothing tones of JC talking about haemoglobin

[@pjetrs]

You’re really on a roll with your channel lately, absolute gold Thank you

[@adambuttenshaw]

Jesse…. I bloody love your content BUT can you please put bar tape on that ‘ken bike 😂!!! I gave you a like just so you can get some bar tape 😛

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

ha ha ha what color?

[@latte6878]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed silver bar tape matching the bike would look absolutely sick

[@discbrakefan]

Black is the only acceptable colour for bar tape

[@Eirikkinserdal]

Depends on the color of the saddle Dave But i only have black saddles anyway 🤣

[@nanthilrodriguez]

@@discbrakefan incorrect. Brown bar tape looks slick on a metallic dark green bike, and orange looks great on a blue bike.

[@a.l.s.718]

that is not boring at all, you really improved your game here mate, that is next level info... amazing content... keep up with the good work, we are are thankful for that!

[@Irondukesteve]

Great advice Jesse! I’m a GP in the Gold Coast and some of my patients are athletes that we test regularly for these sorts of things along with monitoring for underlying disease that might impact performance.

[@philadams9254]

Good video. Water and carbs are the most crucial here and why people often say they lose power when losing fat - they're cutting carbs and tanking everything, especially if huge calorie deficits are involved, destroying recovery. The heat training protocols work because they push your plasma (water) to the limit and make the body increase the volume to compensate. You really need to stay hydrated for that to work though. That volume dilutes the red blood cells but after about a month more EPO is generated to balance it out.

[@EJGilb]

The Hb to watts correlation is huge. I can literally use my power meter to tell me when I'm getting Anaemic. For context, I have UC (Ulcerative Collitis). I tend to slowly leak blood, and I can't get enough dietary iron (Iron tablets make symptoms worse). So when I detect my threshold starting to drop even by 10-20w I will get a blood test and often have low ferritin. Then they give me an iron infusion and my Hb shoots back up to ~140 within a few weeks. This happens once or twice a year.

[@vr4966]

I leave this up to my soigneur.

[@ricf9592]

I was diagnosed with low iron levels. I was given iron tablets and noticed a difference in about two days. VO2 Max currently 80.0

[@peecee1984]

My hemo is 120. Have coeliacs. Iron is mid range. Any tips?

[@EJGilb]

@@peecee1984 I'm not a doctor, but it could potentially be that you're losing blood a touch quicker than your body is able to replenish up to full red blood cell count. Being really strict with the diet and fully eliminating gluten may be your best bet if your iron levels are showing ok. If you have already, it could be something else.

[@peecee1984]

@EJGilb thanks for that. Yes, I do find being extremely strict on diet is best for me. Great point. I will look into possible blood loss reasons. 👌

[@alisonlumelaudur]

Really good and valuable content, please keep sharing your knowledge!

[@michaelgriffiths305]

Great quality video dealing with key indicators to improved perfornance. Really insightful. Thanks.

[@marcvb3364]

Great stuff! Insight like this really differentiates and puts you above other training oriented channels

[@MrJaycobsen]

Very well explained, thank you.

[@TheCyclingCardio]

As a Physician, I fully approve this 👍🏼

[@mostwhowanderarelost]

This is genuinely good content in terms of the physiology of the sport on an accessible level

[@casey-joerumens2567]

Some of the best content around. Nice work bro, thank you. I got a lot from that 💪🙏

[@silviugheorghe7118]

Super video, full of precious infos. I have learned a lot. Thank you

[@jankonarzewski5038]

Great content! Love the approach you are using in your coaching and willingness to share with the wider audience. Reading the scientific studies and explaining it to the average Joe is fantastic (hope more people will find your videos, instead of learning what to buy on GCN...). This stuff is great as it applies to any sport and general health! I used the same strategy during my swimming career (iron being always a metric hard to increase). Thanks for sharing and hope to see more of this kind of videos!

[@cyc00000]

Great video and info mate, thanks for posting.

[@richardacerra2975]

Very good science-based information. Fair play!

[@NathanGuerraTV]

Cheers Jesse, super solid information here, Thanks!!

[@aeciosegundo7779]

Thanks for the updates, Jesse! Keep it Up! ♾️ ⚡️

[@kerolah]

Awesome video! This will help way more people than you think. So many adults are low on B12.

[@thecyclinggreek274]

Excellent stuff. Thanks!

[@richjlaw]

Not at all boring! Great video.

[@olekmehera7256]

Super important info for beginners and people who are wanting to boost performance :) good stuff mate, you're doing god's plan as our Rim Brake Conservation Officer ;)

[@avalanx]

You deserve more subs mate, great work!

[@mathias4894]

been anemic about 6 months now, i can totally confirm Hb importance to training. Also not having an angry digestive system helps

[@brucegelman5582]

Great video.This is the core of performance.If most pro riders arent "boosting" hemoglobin they arent winning races.Nothing is more foundational to performance.Thanks.

[@JJ85J]

Super!!! Thank you!! I train a lot (20h) and I have anemia problem for overtraining

[@cfau6290]

Great video!

[@DISCOhooch]

Thanks coach.

[@Viamscience]

This is some good stuff. Plus… rim for the win!

[@lkeshlifestyle9383]

Thanks for the explanation👍 Im a new subscriber.

[@alainpfammatter8224]

Interesting video. Thank you. Dylan Johnson style

[@kawkaw20]

This is awesome knowledge, I'm combining these exercises with yoga such as kapalbhati which increases oygen intakes. I'm also amazed at aussies and their fitness knowledge 😅

[@duwy.]

Great video

[@stevepowley7929]

A1 content thankyou for sharing

[@chrismadge7292]

You are right blood rarely gets a mention in training adaptations conversations. Great video.

[@adamsims6490]

Good stuff Jesse! P.S. most GPs have no clue about this when you request it for a blood test.

[@fhowland]

I recently had my blood work done and I couldn’t believe my hemoglobin and RBC were both on the low end of the spectrum. I ride so much I thought it would be at least normal ! Great video.

[@wisskier]

I had this problem too. Nutrition I do believe was the thing that fixed my blood quality. That nutrition problem also led to illness and crashed training. Once I started nourishing appropriately and all of those problems went away.

[@RB-xv4si]

He kind of went over this in the video, but not super clearly. What you experienced is normal. Hemoglobin is measured as a concentration (mg/dl where I get my blood tests). So one thing to understand is that total blood volume and hemoglobin often do not increase linearly. Even though you likely have increased your total hemoglobin mass in your circulating blood, your blood plasma volume has increased even more than your hemoglobin. So on a test that measures its concentration, it’s showing as a lower concentration in the normal range. But if you were to get measured on one of those fancy machines this guy mentioned, it would likely show a total hemoglobin mass on the higher end, assuming your body is responding to your exercise as it should.

[@Geo1995gunit]

Good ish, dawg. Very well put forward information I know you trawled through a lot to filter this out

[@nerocoaching]

Thanks

[@bradmcgarry1195]

Hi Jesse, I am interested in your thoughts on structured training programs for Juniors, especially younger cyclists i.e U13 up. Also, is nutrition as important for younger juniors as it is for older riders? Noting: races for younger juniors is usually less than an hour. But there can be multiple races over a Junior weekend race program. Cheers

[@henrikmadsen6446]

Indurain and Riis havn't forgotten about hemoglobin.

[@gavinhornibrook1935]

100% can vouch for the importance of having your blood on point. I get random anemia and it just throws you flat, completely halting performance improvement.

[@lukestait3527]

Good video bro

[@nejcgjurameke3037]

Best video!! Did my test at end of the season and found out my ferritin and b12 were kinda low hematocrit was at 46. started iron ,b12 and D suppliments and bumped hematocrit to 49,5 and hemoglobin to 165 over the off season

[@nerocoaching]

Nice. Just need to maintain that through the next season, which should be easier given you know what contributed to the drop in Hb in the first place

[@nikgracanin6180]

Bro be careful with that high levels of hematocrit so you don't become mr.60%

[@alavroff01]

Sub 60% hematocrit are u even riding bro ?

[@MrPeperoni79]

Bjarne Rijs et. al. made a very comprehensive and conclusive field study on this issue.

[@PlayaBoss96]

Mr. Sixty! Ketchup Blood

[@durianriders]

Using sufficient anabolics got me same 20min watts riding 50km a week than when I was doing 1000km a week. The boost you get from extra hemoglobin is NIGHT AND DAY and the more trained you are the bigger you will feel it. That is why we see such crazy spikes in performance in running, swimming and cycling at certain times of the year - BOOSTED BLOOD vs NATTY BLOOD. IYKYK. Guys like JC if they did my protocols fully and got on the same stuff the big names are on would be right up there with them or beating them. There isnt much difference inside but it is what you add extra or leave out that makes the difference at the top when everyone has pretty much the same engine genetics.

[@Hill_Walker]

How useful would sleeping in an altitude tent be, for passive training of your blood?

[@veganaus]

Zinc also Jesse. Zinc, iron, B12 holy trinity of RBC production

[@jonathanlaue3460]

Since when was Haemoglobin forgotten? Ever heard of EPO?! As Tyler Hamilton said after a transfusion “I realised the power I had wasn’t in my muscles. It was in the blood in those bags.” Very high km’s at low intensity and very little high intensity is how you train this but most amateur athletes don’t have the time required. Fact.

[@jenorite80]

True, hardly forgotten! Changes in blood content is only like THE BIGGEST issue facing the sport from the 90s 'til now!! There's a reason pros spend all that time at altitude before major races...

[@oldkayakdude]

Another topic many people ignore is the genetic impact on training. There is a growing database of genetic data tied to athletic performance.

[@heikkisanelma6625]

Due to my medical condition i take ~4 times a year basic blood screen, Hb is unchanged in long term trend between 135-145 for 20 years. in the last 3 years of these i have a 580-620hr annual years of training of which 90-92% is aerobic training for half and full ironmans. 4 years prior to that the training volume was 450-550hr with little more bias to strength and conditioning, but still majority of full spectrum of aerobic triathlon training.... the 13 years prior to hat is more or less 350-400hr annual hoiurs with some interval running and mostly anaearobic and astrength bias cross training in the gym... body seems to refrain in the selected homeostasis in the biochemical status, but for sure the plasma volume is way up now, thus larger mass of Hb... and this is why heat training can help aerobic adaptations...

[@heikkisanelma6625]

just my empiric observations for over two decades

[@andersnyberg4034]

For many years doctors always asked me if I was taking something. Never understood why until they called me up twice after blood tests when I got covid. The doctor asked the same questions. But this time the female doctor told me why, because my blood values are so high. Hematocrit: 0.52 Hemoglobin: 180 g/mL This more or less backs up why I've always had it easy for endurance training.. Combined with a lungvolume between 6,5-7 liter. But sadly got asthma so avoid max sprints and focus on endurance.

[@peecee1984]

Wow. Freak stuff there. Mine are 40. And mid 120. 🤮

[@Second247]

Important thing to note as doping was mentioned. I've listened some doping-coaches and one of them said that endurance atheletes have been most dangerous group to work with on terms of doping getting you killed, and this from guy working with bodybuilders. EPO is dangerous.

[@glywnniswells9480]

What about breath holding like freediver training wouldnt that improve haemoglobin?

[@robertgreiner4703]

what excercicses (bike/gym) are the most effective to level up my timetrial performance on a tt bike?

[@stevenbalderstone709]

Is hematocrit a proxy for measuring haemoglobin? You did a good job of explaining the science behind how over-training degrades performance. Dylan Johnson will be jealous!

[@nerocoaching]

Yes for most people, in most scenarios, testing Hb or Hct will have the same outcome

[@midsfella]

Does taking blood anti coagulantts blunt or reduce training adaptation?

[@trunx168]

Great content and interesting approach! What's your thoughts on regular blood/plasma donation? I've been giving plasma every 2 weeks and constantly riding around 400km/week. Feel like the 'fresh' blood plasma the body produces after each donations, helps maintaining the stamina. Plus Redcross gives a free Hb check every 2 weeks. :)

[@nerocoaching]

That is a fantastic service you are doing by donating blood. But a big stress on the body to regenerate that blood and not good for performance unfortunately. In the study I was quoting they stopped doing the blood analysis within 4 months of the world record attempt because they didn't want it to impact training

[@tomghc]

I personally switched to donating platelets/plasma because donating blood was having a noticeably impact on perf for more than just the day of/day after.

[@trunx168]

@@nerocoaching sorry it's plasma, not whole blood. And I agree on giving whole blood can put a big stress to our body, but not so much with the plasma/platelets because the replace the same amount of fluid we give. Depending on our blood types, some are more suitable to giving the whole blood (O type), some for plasma (AB, A and B) and some for platelets (A and B). I'm on the plasma and platelets category, so I get to check the Hb level every 2 weeks. One of of the benefit visiting Redcross regularly. :)

[@ironore8677]

I have a serious math question. If I avg 250 watts steady for an hour on a loop will my time be the same if I avg 250 on same loop but spike big watts up a couple short climbs yet back off enough after to still avg 250 for the loop?

[@rodgrierson9621]

Is there any credible research on increasing hemoglobin through breath work?

[@StephanieLuff]

I think about this way more than I probably should, but reintroducing heme iron sources has correlated with fitness improvements for me. Unfortunately I can only pick two: vegetarian, athlete, menstruating female

[@stopbanningmeonets3514]

Why do you think that is? What if you take iron supplements whilst being vegetarian ?

[@runzization]

Elemental iron-glycinate, fumurate, glycinate etc is often sold in high amounts (25mg) causing digestive issues, inflammation, oxidative stress. Heme iron (iron in the blood) is direct and bioavailable with 20% greater absorption

[@pabtorre]

Oat meal is a great source of iron, much better than any meat other than oysters.

[@runzization]

@@pabtorre no it's plant based which is non heme iron and non heme iron has to convert in the blood to be absorbed. Also the fiber in oats can in some sensitive individuals cause binding further reducing iron absorption. Plant based yes Carnivore based yes. We are all omnivores.

[@pabtorre]

@@runzization good to know. I was confused about that. Thanks for clarifying.

[@burnsideisback]

Isn't there a Placebo song about this? "Hemoglobin is the key, to a healthy heartbeat". Never known Brian Molko to be wrong on matters of fitness and health

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

Don't know why I was singing your comment 🥴

[@energylab6277]

Epic comment!

[@silverburn55]

I’ve recently had 2x heart surgeries (stents), and I’m beginning to worry about my ability to train aerobics. I’m 52 with a 51 VO2max; is increasing aerobic performance worth the extra risk of disrupting my stents?

[@nerocoaching]

I'm not qualified enough to answer this, one for a cardiologist to answer

[@silverburn55]

@@nerocoaching My cardiologist is a moron; he only treats obese cardiac disease patients normally. He just glazes over when I talk about "Threshold" or "lactate threshold".

[@durianriders]

depends on how high your blood pressure is. Why did you let people do stuff to your body when they can't answer the questions you have about it?

[@Kermitonwheels]

Very not boring

[@rushvelo8145]

Hey Jessie u23 cyclist here, I've tried searching for athlete specific places to test blood and have come up empty handed is this something a gp can do to give all the required stats for an athlete

[@nerocoaching]

GP can do it. Or most countries have companies where you can order blood tests yourself, like iMedical in Australia.

[@Jam789]

I am a cat 4 guy. According to your suggestion, I need to have more recovery and nutrition parts? But how? I only have about 8 to 10 hrs to ride per week

[@nerocoaching]

You don’t need more of either, you need sufficient recovery and nutrition. You may already have both

[@odinschneider7238]

Question: Does donating blood lower your fitness? Or is the recovery full?

[@nerocoaching]

Yes donating blood will acutely impact performance and if you do it regularly is an increase in chronic stress on the body to regenerate that blood. Which is unfortunate because we could do with a lot more healthy people donating blood!

[@ironmantooltime]

Dude you should insert cutaways of an alter-ego wearing a baseball cap to lighten the tone and add some comic value 👍

[@pabtorre]

Have him talk about how all this is just a way to get more kom in Strava...

[@ironmantooltime]

Maybe make him slightly skeptical of the science you're quoting, like he's more like, innit bro 😂

[@4lumi]

The main limitating factor for hemoglobin formation is not vitamins and iron but is genetic and is determined by erythropoietin levels (EPO), that's why there is doping

[@Timo-qb1gf]

Doesn't everyone do that even if not knowingly. The base phase / Z2 training impact largely is considered complete when your HR has dropped and stabilised on a given effort which usually takes 6-8 weeks. That's mainly the plasma volume component as your study said. And when losing fitness you loose the excess plasma volume when not training.

[@nerocoaching]

Increases in hemoglobin mass can occur for months and months, not something that is maximised in 6-8 weeks. I think many riders who hit plateaus in training after 3,4,5 months are doing so because they've hit a limit in how much their hemoglobin can increase, because they aren't optimising the things discussed in the video. There may be many other reasons for plateauing, this one I think is not discussed very often. Also the idea that once you reduce your HR drift your foundation is built and only then should you increase the intensity of training doesn't really make sense. And even if it did, HR will always drift when exercising, even at low intensity, there's no way to quantify what is a "good" amount of drift, and the drift can be impacted by many things like acute fatigue which are unrelated to fitness increases so that becomes a wild goose chase

[@suadmahmutovic6542]

So hance you should always be working on Zone 2 which really is not just base but huge recovery method especially lower end Zone 2 is my understanding. Getting out of the middle so we can go hard when need to and not always be under recovering.

[@jenorite80]

Yes you are correct Timo, blood volume is quite responsive to training and not training. This is why it feels so tough the first few rides after time off the bike. And yes HR drift is a good practical measure, all other things equal, for the internal physiological response to external effort. Though there's plenty of benefits gained from Z2 aerobic stimulus beyond reducing HR drift for given power. Which I'm sure you still do beyond the base period. As any decent coach with a sports science degree will tell you and also help with increases to blood volume and haemoglobin mass/haematocrit to support high oxidative capacity if that is relevant to your race/event goals. As of course very important for a road racer, or pursuit rider like in this video, but not so much for ultra rider as they aren't going to max out oxygen consumption!

[@avoycendeether8869]

Well I think coyle/coggan sort of proved that most of VO2max detraining was related to loss of blood volume. In fact, didn't they just add plasma after detraining and restore most lost VO2max? That's why I call them the fathers of blood doping. I'll mention one more interesting thing that sort of brings peripheral and central together...most cyclists, in a TTE trial at ~75% VO2max, will reach exhaustion when cerebral oxygenation has decreased by about 5%. That's some good info you won't find in the literature. There's no easy/safe way to increase cerebral O2 in isolation but my bet is if you could time to exhaustion would increase materially.

[@louisvuittondom]

Does getting blood taken when fasted affect hemoglobin or ferritin tests?

[@nerocoaching]

Depends how long you've been fasting for

[@louisvuittondom]

@@nerocoaching a lot of the time they tell you to fast for 24 hours before a blood test in the USA

[@miguelzg4734]

I have a question about only taking sugar. What about the teeth and all that stuff? Don’t get rotten if you take too much sugar??

[@DurianriderCyclingTips]

Sugar is ph neutral. Sports drinks, juice, soda etc are acidic and can cause errosion of the enamel. Dehydration causes teeth decay because a dry mouth means saliva cant protect teeth properly. Low testosterone/estrogen cause teeth issues.

[@savagepro9060]

Jesse Coyle: Hemoglobin: The Forgotten Limiter to Cycling Training & Performance Collin Charthier: 🤔🤨

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

so did you get your new bike?

[@savagepro9060]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed I have a Kestrel Airfoil frameset on the way TT, just waiting: haven't made up my mind yet: SRAM 10 speed R2C setup, SRAM 11 speed R2C setup, as for road bike, UT6770 Di2 or UT 6780 Di2, frameset -->> thinking of Velobuild's Pinarello F lookalike VB-R-218, but I'm dying for an old Pinarello Dogma or Prince frame🤣

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

@@savagepro9060 Well I remember it was a while back. I saw a comment that you were getting a bike you're taking your time so it's going to be awesome!. So much to choose from. It's crazy

[@savagepro9060]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed indeed, and when I'm done, sell out all the surplus

[@SuperYobo]

My hemoglobin is at 13.5 normally, now 11 after hard training weeks. That’s anemic. I take iron, b and d vitamins. Hematokrit is now 36 from 42… don’t know what to do. I feel ok but what if my lvls was higher

[@durianriders]

now you know why oxygen vector drugs are just part of the recipe if you want to be a champ.

[@SuperYobo]

@@durianriders almost healthier to take epo on these hard blocks to not get anemic..

[@ChanningSmith1]

Do you happen to know how accurate your finger prick hemoglobin tester is? Bought one after watching this but my results are all over the place. Super inconsistent even with as little as 5mins between tests. Not sure if it’s my machine in particular or if these style of tests are just not very accurate. Ps I don’t squeeze the finger and I make sure my skin is clean and dry.

[@nerocoaching]

The meter itself is accurate, the inconsistency comes from the blood sample. Needs to be a strong finger prick with plenty of blood flow to get reliable results. With a good sample I can get it consistent. It's useful in testing athletes if they haven't had a blood test to make sure Hb is in the normal range. I've found my Hb is stable so personally am not regularly using my meter

[@nerocoaching]

I wasn’t recommend Hb meters in this video either, just saying that I bought one and have been testing it, still need more time with it

[@ChanningSmith1]

@@nerocoaching Thank you Jesse. Would you do another blood video in the future with some of your insights into the tester? I know it’s probably a boring one to put together but man it’s the most useful insight I’ve learned all year for sure! Thanks again.

[@ChanningSmith1]

Update: I get very consistent blood test readings now that I take a “baby aspirin” 10mins before finger prick. Aspirin seems to help prevent the blood from clotting so I can get a better sample on each finger prick. Still super grateful I found this video, thank you Jesse!

[@davidh8600]

I just had my hemoglobin tested at blood donation 168 g/L. That might explain why I can drop lighter guys on the steep climbs😅

[@FitnessSynthesis]

should you train harder with high hemoglobin mass or just stay in zone 2 training

[@nerocoaching]

if hemoglobin was low or decreasing, and it wasn't an anomaly, it's a sign you're not getting a favourable training response so should back off the load. I don't see it a reason to train harder just because hemoglobin is high

[@FitnessSynthesis]

@@nerocoaching so you mean to say as a counter part of it. if hemoglobin is increasing base on training you should increase training intensity?

[@nerocoaching]

Not sure what you mean, training should be based on usual training principles according to your event or fitness targets

[@kylehagertybanana]

those new handlebars are so fucking beautiful I keep staring at them in the last few vids

[@rayF4rio]

No kidding. That stem looks like its 200mm. 😀

[@gongalab]

the point is that MTB riders have higher hemoglobing levels generally becaouse we train most of time at high intesity where Hr IS ALLWAYS IN ZONE 4,5,6 OR RATHER SAY WE RECOVER IN hR zone 4 . The point is we do produce less power in terms of force x cadence but we have lower pedal force but higher cadences due to terrain changes and interestingly we out run road cyclist at most of climbs becaouse their cardio system is not well adapted to severe tempo changes and constant sprints their cardion just can t cope and they have less effective lactate buffer so thats what makes us faster at most of terrains. There is no secrecy to it its just MTB is high intensity training in general and roaD CYCLING SEEMS TO BE MORE LONG HOURS STEADY STATE trainings to kind of get more muscular adaptation but hey what wins the race is being good at zone 5,6,7 . So im surrprised you mentioned this in 2023 what is well known since decades ago. As well hill runners are very good in MTB and road climbing races despite they never trained each of disciplines but rather theeir nature of training is as well high intesity where Hr is constant at zone 4,5,6 they rarely see Hr at level zone 2 or 3 unless they walk on straight or recovery run. From my personal experiances and training 3 months prior to race my Hemoglobin was raised till 183 and Hematocrit 54- and believe it or not i was warned i might be suspended becaouse my number of hematocrit was out of 49.99 limit for UCI. But i can say the feel on up hill with this values seems like riding a flat road not uphill due to insaneVo2 max-power increase. :) at age 40.But trainings include much ov high velocity -cadence and high force on pedals but short bursts which are repeated at very short recovery periods. And body response as it does.

[@Southerncyclist]

Its amazing to me how many people spend so much on bikes and gear and ride all the time. Then they don't even take a multivitamin. Frickin crazy.

[@czeckson74]

Hematocrit 0.49 (same as age)

[@dannyzuehlsdorf3697]

so does increased hemoglobin mean increased EPO?

[@nerocoaching]

Other way around. Riders will go to altitude to naturally get an increase in the hormone EPO (or inject it illegally) which tells the body to produce more red blood cells (and therefore higher hemoglobin)

[@dannyzuehlsdorf3697]

@@nerocoaching aha. Makes sense. Thank you.

[@4lumi]

@@nerocoaching But EPO is mainly limited by genetic factors, isn't it? You could assume a loto of vitamins and iron, but if you have low levels of EPO this will have little effects on your Haemoglobin

[@TheMerckxProject]

Did you miss the 90s and the 00s? It was all about what they could do with their blood to improve performance back then. 😆😆😆😆

[@durianriders]

Still the same today bro. The times are even faster. Just look at marathon, 5k etc. The drugs are way better and we understand how to pass the tests better, pharmacokinetics etc.

[@lorenzfrass9499]

Optimal b12 levels for performance and hemoglobin as recommended by Durianrider are around 1500, so quite above the normal range. What do you think about that Jesse? I mean, the dude really knows his stuff, so what b12 do you personally aim for? Also for anyone doing a blood test and finding that b12 is low: To quickly get those levels up you should either get injections or a spray. I have recently seen a video where a dude compared his levels on injections vs the spray and it was equal. So a spray might be an easy solution for everyone not wanting to inject themselves with something.

[@SuperErgergergerg]

What spray was it do you know? My b12 is pretty low after blood work : \

[@lorenzfrass9499]

@@SuperErgergergerg I have one from a brand called Betteryou. Dont know if that is available outside germany though. You can get any type of b12 spray and it will work the brand or exact product doesnt matter. The oral absorption from the spray is just going to be much better than a pill. And faster to get your levels up.

[@SuperErgergergerg]

@@lorenzfrass9499 Gotcha, thanks!!

[@nerocoaching]

The standard reference range definitely goes too low for an athlete. I don't know if 1500 (pg/mL? or pmol/L?) would lead to better RBC, this study found Hb plateaued once B12 got above ~700 pg/mL (www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/4/1038). Mine on my last blood test was ~1200pg/mL, after I had been taking 1000mcg tablet under the tongue 3x per week.

[@thiscocks]

EPO

[@Zen_Cycling]

"Riders will dope... to increase their hemoglobin... It's worth sorta sayin" :)

[@chrisduffill5248]

A good way to increase you red count is to train at altitude too , this will grow the oxygen that the body can do … this I found when racing X country racing langlaugh skiing

[@chrisduffill5248]

I also found a month after I came down to normal altitudes the levels came lower again …

[@garrettwelsch7117]

You can't really get reliable blood tests for hemoglobin. Hemoglobin varies day to day based on hydration and other factors. I have had blood tests done both minutes apart and still be off by 0.5 g/dl, even up to 2.0 g/dl a few days apart.

[@roadracer1584]

Be like Lance. Do you want to improve your performance? Take EPO.

[@yuritarded621]

Only person I watch that even talks about blood is durianrider. He talks a lot about vegan because it's gonna help you a lot when there's minimal fat flowing and blocking your blood. He talks about about hydration so that you have better blood volume. And he talks about sugar so that it can flow into your muscles so you can perform better. I think fitness is all about in the blood. And also when talking about recovery, you missed sleep, sleep is very important because not getting enough sleep and sleeping late at night effect our hormones as well.

[@nerocoaching]

I agree Durianrider is one of the few people I've seen that bring it up regularly

[@philadams9254]

@@nerocoaching There is another KZbinr called Ash Beech who used to be very active but stopped. He did loads of videos on it too. Anyway, DR and Veganism have their haters but you can't say it's not optimal for blood quality!

[@latte6878]

@@philadams9254 why aren't most pro riders vegans then? Red meat is the absolute best source of iron. Vegan alternative iron suplemets are hard to digest and not much of it gets absorbed.

[@nerocoaching]

You can perform well on a vegan diet (I have), but I wouldn’t say it’s preferred for blood health over any other healthy omnivorous diet. There’s nothing special about it, if anything it makes it harder because you’ve got less foods to choose from to hit your nutritional targets

[@philadams9254]

@@nerocoaching Did you delete my comment? That info on iron is legit and worth talking about if making videos like this

[@peterers3]

Training Lots having fun, eating Well Not going too hard and recovering. Getting healthy meals and Supplements to Support Ur Training and Recovery. Skip to min 7:02 If you have enough of His Hämoglobin blabbering

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

To increase hemoglobin jogging is good. People who hate the jog the best way for cyclists to improve hemoglobin is heat training.

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

For cyclists elite cyclists heat training is how they increase hemoglobin. Can altitude do it? Yes it can. But heat training is more effective when it comes to the density Altitude training teaches your body to use less oxygen, therefore the restriction of the oxygen is what pushes hemoglobin increase. But a more effective way is heat training

[@savagepro9060]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed Indeed, Ijust googled the notion that jogging increases hemoglobin. But, by that token of physiological reasoning, shouldn't triathletes be the fittest freaks on Earth? 'Jus askin, DUDE!

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

They are!

[@DeTaPix]

Another way to increase blood volume and in turn red blood cell count is to take cold showers. They are proven to stimulate capillary growth which then demands more blood to be present in the system.

[@nationsnumber1chump]

Merida. More bike.

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

Go look at my Strava today I was flushing out. The jogging soreness. My cadence was at 130 + for minutes at a time. That's how you keep your hemoglobin and recover at the same time. I'm not your enemy. Jesse, I just know better than you

[@savagepro9060]

Phhbbbt!

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

Ha ha ha 🤣 yoo000! Poet what's the word?

[@savagepro9060]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed The only guy, besides, KZbin [shhh] remembers me as 'POET'🤣

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

@@savagepro9060 ha ha ha ha 👊😂 my memory is still ok 🤪🥴😆 Did you hear about the non-vaccinated sperm being worth more than gold?, 🥳🥇 Look it up 😆

[@savagepro9060]

@@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed holy shit, Hey Harry, I looked it up. I've a goldmine in my balls

[@douglasbooth6836]

I have 58% red blood cells. We don’t know why. I get a half litre taken from me every month. When coming to my yearly etspe I don’t give blood.😂 This why the professionals train and live at altitude. Add blood doping you are miles higher than anyone else.

[@nerocoaching]

DM me, I'll take some off your hands 😆

[@douglasbooth6836]

@@nerocoaching the problem is your legs are always behind your cardio. At my age anyway. It’s why riders need time to get race fit after being at altitude. Can you imagine how the guys felt after getting an extra 1/2 litre added to themselves before a race back in the 90s. They must have felt like superman.

[@LuisSantos-zq9nb]

Crazy to see amateurs drilling themselves in reps and more reps and volume and having no clue about their hematocrit, b12, ferritin!

[@savagepro9060]

FIRST!