Is Iron Deficiency The Reason You Feel Like Trash? - MJ Fitness

Is Iron Deficiency The Reason You Feel Like Trash?

You’ve been consistent. Sleeping eight hours. Training hard. Eating clean. But you’re still feeling wrecked. The first thing you’d do is blame it on stress, burnout, or just poor recovery. What if the problem wasn’t with your program, but your blood?

When you’re feeling tired, weak and underperforming in the gym, it may be due to iron deficiency. It can sneak up on you, sapping your strength and energy, taking away your intensity from workouts. Most people don’t even realise that it’s happening.

Iron: The Oxygen Highway

Iron has a very simple job, it resides in your red blood cells, helping oxygen get transported around your body. Everything in your body from muscles to cells are powered by oxygen. When your iron is low, your red blood cells can’t carry enough oxygen around your body. This’ll make everything from walking to intense training harder than it should be.

It doesn’t just kill your stamina. It puts your focus, mood and immune system in the bin, too. If you’re sending it at the gym, but always feel like you’re running on empty, it could possibly be low iron.

How To Actually Check Your Levels

Iron deficiency isn’t something that only women or plant based eaters should be worried about. Anyone who smashes gym sessions, sweats a lot, or even just skips red meat could be at risk. The surefire way to tell? Bloodwork.

If all this has you worried about your iron levels, don’t run to your nearest supplement store and grab an iron supplement off the shelf, that can be dangerous (more on that later). If you go to your GP and tell him you may have low iron, they’ll be able to help with a blood test. If you ask for a test that includes ferritin, serum iron and TIBC, you’ll be able to get to the bottom of your symptoms.

Red Flags That Scream “Get a Blood Test”

You don’t have to be so tired that you can’t move to have an iron deficiency. The early signs can be easily confused with everyday tiredness, which makes them easier to ignore. If you’re feeling tired constantly, short of breath from simple tasks, or even noticing your hair thinning, it’s worth heading down to your GP. 

Why Iron Levels Drop

If you live off oats and coffee, and don’t eat meat, your intake could be low. But sometimes it’s not about diet. Gut issues, high volume training sessions, and menstrual cycles can drain your iron faster than you can ingest it.

Here’s something that goes over people’s heads, endurance athletes and people that love their HIIT sessions burn through iron more than normal. Pair that up with sweating hard and it’s not really a surprise that iron deficiency is common in people that are training hard and under recovering.

Too Much Of A Good Thing?

Supplementing with iron isn’t just a “throw a pill at it” type of fix. If you haven’t had a blood test and you decided to take iron, it could have some dangerous side effects. From joint pain, fatigue (again), liver issues and even your skin having a weird, metallic tone to it. So, please don’t just guess, get a blood test.

Food First, But Be Smart About It

Heme iron is the most absorbable form of iron, found in red meat, poultry and fish. Plant based eaters will find iron in spinach or lentils, however your body won’t absorb it as easily. Pairing an iron rich meal with vitamin c can help out a ton with absorption. Coffee and tea will block absorption, so be weary of that.

The Bottom Line

If you’re down in the dumps, worn out, or stuck in a viscous training plateau, don’t just get on the grind and power through. Get your iron levels checked. One test could be the key to get you out of the slump and back into hard training.

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.