Plasma iron status in elite weightlifters after four weeks of intensive training

With or without anemia, iron deficiency, is a common disorder among athletes and it can decrease both physical and mental performances. Actually, no previous study has investigated the effects of weightlifting training on iron status responses. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of four weeks of intensive training on plasma iron status of elite weightlifters. Sixteen participants (a group of eight men and a group of eight women) from the elite Tunisian team took part in the present study. Blood levels of some hematological, iron, anemia and inflammation parameters were assessed before (pre) and after four weeks (Post) of intensive training during a precompetitive phase. For both groups, ferritin concentrations and plasma Creatine kinase activity increased significantly at post-compared to pre-training (P<0.05). Plasma Creatine kinase activity displayed a significant increase after training (P<0.01) for both men and women lifters. However, transferrin levels decreased for both gender at post-compared to pre-training (P<0.05). For C-reactive protein levels and plasma iron concentrations, no-significant pre- to post-training changes have been reported. The hemoglobin concentration was lower in the women group than the men group only before training (P<0.05). Red blood cells, hematocrit and mean corpuscular volume decreased and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration increased significantly from pre- to post-training only in men (P<0.05). For women, only red blood cells and hematocrit increased from pre- to post-training (P<0.05). In conclusion, the present study showed changes in the majority of iron status balance parameters, which seems to be close to the lowest reference limit, with a considerable depletion of iron stores and low serum ferritin concentrations especially in woman weightlifters.