european college of sport science

OP-PH01 Physiology 1
DOES HAEMOGLOBIN MASS INCREASE WITH SEVERAL YEARS OF ENDURANCE TRAINING? CONTROLLED CROSS-
SECTIONAL STUDY WITH 16, 21 AND 28 YEARS OLD ELITE XC-SKIERS AND TRIATHLETES.
STEINER, T., BOUTELLIER, U., WEHRLIN, J.P.
1. SECTION FOR ELITE SPORTS, SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF SPORTS, MAGGLINGEN., 2. INSTITUTE OF HUMAN MOVEMENT SCIENCES AND
SPORT, ETH AND INSTITUTE OF PHYSIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY, ZURICH
Introduction: Recent research results (Prommer et al. 2008) put into question, whether haemoglobin mass (HbM) - an important limiting
factor of VO2max - unlike as guessed so far (Sawka et al. 2000) can be increased in endurance athletes with endurance training. Little is
known about the effects of long lasting endurance training on HbM in adolescents. The aim of this controlled cross-sectional study was to
evaluate if there are differences in HbM between endurance athletes at the age of 16 years, 20-23 years and older than 23 years.
Methods: In three endurance athlete groups at different age (AG16: 15.9±0.7 years, n=15, national top 15 ranking in XC-skiing and triathlon
in 2008, no national team at this age; AG21: 21.3±0.9 years, n=14 and AG28: 27.5±3.0 years, n=16 from the national teams in XCskiing
and triathlon) as well as in three age matched control groups (< 2h endurance training per week; KG16: 15.9±0.3 years, n=16;
KG21: 21.3±1.2 years, n=15; KG28: 28.1±4.0 years, n=16) we measured, among others, HbM (CO-rebreathing) and VO2max.
Results: In AG16 HbM (12.3 ±0.8 g/kg) as well as VO2max (66.1 ±3.6 ml/min/kg) was lower (p