Is this blood test bad - before/after altitude tent

That's pretty normal for you wbc to go down with hard training. Every time I've gotten mine tested the wbc is low (120-130 mpw, everything else is fine). Just make sure you're eating and sleeping well. Be careful about being around other sick people/swine flu. Your ferritin looks good. Did you buy or rent the tent?

Thanks for the info. I bought the tent. Shouldn't my read blood cells go up? Thanks again.

get your ferritin up immediately, even if you're a female. You arent going to be getting much hypoxic benefit with that low of a ferritin count. It needs to be (at the lowest) in the 100's.

If you stack your iron now you can get a huge jump in red blood cells (Hct), but if you keep using the tent at your current iron level your performance will just go down, down, and down.

You dont have enough iron, so the red blood cells arent being made. The ones that are will serioiusly kill your iron count as young red blood cells need more iron to fully mature.

What tent?

What altitude?

What's your mileage then and now?

Interesting that your RBCs went down and Hct went up.

I'm using the altuitude tech tent and it is set for 7500ft. My milage has been between 120 and 140. I have been taking iron but I will take more. I thought my ferritin was good. Thanks for the help.

how many hours a day are you spending inside the tent?

your hematocrit went up, so that is a good sign.

texanrunna wrote:

your hematocrit went up, so that is a good sign.

In this case that's not true. The hematocrit is just a ratio of rbc's to total blood. But since the rbc's went down, it just means that the OP was more dehydrated on the 2nd test. Also, it's not actually beneficial to have a higher hematocrit because it forces the heart to work harder to pump the "thicker", more viscuous blood. Obviously the OP wants more rbc's because they are what actually transports the oxygen, but ideally he would prefer to do it with a corresponding increase in plasma volume so that the hematocrit stays the same. Then he gets the benefit of extra oxygen carrying capacity from the additional rbc's without the negative side effect of increased blood viscosity from an increased hematocrit.

are you serious about ferritin being ideally over 100? my doc said that my 38 was "great"

I usually spend 8 hours a night in it. Should I not sleep in it anymore. I am running Chicago in 5 weeks. I haven't used in over a week and I am feeling ok. Thanks for the help.

Your ferretin level is fine, but keep supplementing. Some reports say >40 is ok before altitude training, but i've seen closer to 100 giving better results.

Don't look too much into any of the other numbers, they are so misleading and have little correlation to altitude tent effectiveness or performance. pretty much a waste of time apart from the iron count.

The only blood tests that will give a true indication are those that measure actual RBC mass, and that involves the introduction of a dye or Carbon Monoxide.

But then there is an Australian paper that just discusses non-hematological responses to altitude. Gains don't just come from increased RBC mass. In fact, for <10 h/day, the main benefits may well come from other adaptations.

Absolutely keep using the tent as you have been, adding extra hours if possible. I'm sure it's a lot cheaper for you, and more convenient, than relocating to Park City of somewhere similar.

Shaun

sykes wrote:

are you serious about ferritin being ideally over 100? my doc said that my 38 was "great"

As a runner, shoot for over 50.

I agree with this guy. Your ferritin is fine (actually, I'd say very good compared to what you often hear). Keep supplementing and get it tested 2-3 times/year. I'm traveling and away from home at the moment, but there's a really good research review article that says >50 and preferably 60-70 (if not higher, as long as you feel good). This is very individualistic, so the key is knowing what your numbers are when you feel good.