EFFECT OF BLOOD INFUSION UPON ENDURANCE CAPACITY AND RATINGS OF PERCEIVED EXERTION

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 10  (2) , 113-118
Abstract
The effect of blood infusion upon maximal endurance capacity and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were investigated. Sixteen long-distance runners, 13 of whom were marathoners, undertook 4 trials (T1-T4) of a treadmill run to exhaustion over a 5-wk period. Criterion measures were time to exhaustion (TE) and RPE during each T. Data on Hb, Hct [hematocrit] and RBCs [red blood cells] were collected prior to each trial. Based on TE at T1, subjects [Ss] were matched and assigned to either the experimental (E) or control (C) group. One week after T1, all Ss had 460 ml blood withdrawn. T2 was undertaken 2 wk postwithdrawal. One week after T2, or 21 days postwithdrawal, the E group was infused with their own RBCs while the C group received 460 ml normal saline. T3 was taken 2 h postinfusion and T4 1 wk later. The results of the factorial repeated measures ANOVA [analysis of variance] revealed no significant differences (P < .05) between groups for either TE or RPE, even though the Hb level for the E group was significantly higher (P < .01) than the C group at T3 and T4.