Thal minor increase fitness

Hello, im new, wasnt sure if this should be in this section, nutrition or general etc.

Im a 22 yr old male in the uk with thal minor. I dont think its had a massive effect on me in normal life, I got good grades and am now training to be a flying instructor at my local flying school. Im usually tired before others on a night out but thats about it.

However with fitness its always held me back, but I've never been hugely sporting apart from skiing and weight exercises in the gym, so its never really bothered me. But now I've started doing much more sports and cardio type exercise. I'm riding from London to Paris on a bicycle this june and I've found a new love in boxing.

I train at boxing two 1.5 hour sessions a week and am riding around 60 miles a week on the bike for london to paris.

I ride with my dad (45) and his mates of the same sort of age, at the gym the ages and fitness of the other boxers varies. But the one major trend, is in all cardio, I'm miles behind. I struggle to keep up with my middle aged cycle group, and two minute rounds on pads and bags at boxing have me stopping every minute or so for recovery. I cant run for more than 10 to 15 mins, we do running exercises at boxing, jogging for maybe 3/4 of a mile, then sprinting intervals etc, I do my best and keep up for a while but then feel light pain in my chest and side of my core and have to slow it down.

Will this get better with more training, is there anything in particular I can be doing to improve my cardio elsewhere?

I take a multivitamin that has small levels of most things, it says 150% rda of folic acid, I do regular protein shakes, I eat... Reasonably healthy, I dont carry much body fat, im 5"9 and 170lbs, medium muscular build.

Any help will be appreciated, ive had a general read through alot of topics on the forum but thought I could get better help by putting my situation down on paper

Thanks, tom

Hi,

Did you looked at below reply which I just posted today?;

http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php/topic,4457.msg43193.html#msg43193

Cheers,
Pratik.

Hell pratik, thanks for replying.
I didnt see that no, perhaps not looking hard enough. Alot of that reply relates to energy levels an I have in the past experienced bad energy levels from not eating enough, i have to eat alot before exercise or I seem to burn through it quickly, but my problems now are more cardio based, not so much running out of energy, but muscle fatigue and getting enough breath in.

Am I making any sense? Lol is it all the same?

The problem with tiredness in thal minors is a result of the lower Hb level that most minors have, along with the results of the oxidation caused by hemolysis, the early death of red blood cells. It is difficult for a thal minor to match the oxygen level of non-thals but for some minors, it can be done, as we witnessed with tennis great, Pete Sampras and soccer legend, Zinedine Zidane. Both are thal minors. I would suggest the following supplements (do not take a multi with iron):
B-complex 100.
400 IU natural vitamin E complex daily.
1000-2000 mg L-carnitine daily.
250-1000 mg vitamin C daily. (Not for thal majors).
500 mg magnesium daily.
1000-2000 mcg (micrograms) folic acid daily.
I typically do not recommend multis because they seldom contain adequate doses.
Wheatgrass in some form. Tabs and extract are the easiest methods.
Resveratrol may also be considered.

Ok thanks andy, if they are all in tablet form am I ok to chuck them all in at once after breakfast or should I spread them throughout the day?

Also should they help within a few weeks or over a long time of absorbtion?

I take all my supplements with food, so it's easier on the stomach. This is a long term plan and changes happen slowly and in a subtle way.

ey buddy, i have thal minor as well and have an active lifestyle. I just monitor my Hg levels and ive always hoticed that if there's an increase in hemolysis that's the time when I feel weak and tired.

Andy thanks for the infos on supplements. I think I have never been generous in supplementing my body with the ones you stated. Thanks a lot.

Hi Andy,

In the list you recommend below, would L-arginine substitute for L-carnitine ? Or these two help in different ways for thal minors.

Thanks a lot!!

L-arginine, L-carnitine and L-citrulline can all be used for the same purpose. Some people find that one works better than the other or that one is tolerated better.

I take all three of these daily. First thing in the morning on an empty stomach.