PMID- 9711359 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 19981117 LR - 20061115 IS - 1381-3455 (Print) IS - 1381-3455 (Linking) VI - 105 IP - 4 DP - 1998 Aug TI - Hematological responses to training and taper in competitive swimmers: relationships with performance. PG - 379-85 AB - The purpose of this study was to monitor hematological changes during 12 weeks of intense training and 4 weeks of taper in 8 highly trained competitive swimmers, and to assess the relationships between hematological variables and competition performance. Venous blood samples were obtained in the mid-season (wk 10), before taper (wk 22) and after taper (wk 26). Swimmers participated in actual competitions within 1 wk of each blood testing. Comparisons were made between swimmers improving performance with taper by more than 2% (n = 4), efficient (GE) or less than 2% (n = 4), less efficient (GLE). Hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) increased significantly during training. MCH and MCHC decreased during taper, while serum iron tended to increase (P = 0.07). Improvement in performance during taper was positively correlated with post-taper red cell count (RCC): r = 0.83, P < 0.05. GE swimmers had higher pre- and post-taper RCC, and post-taper Hb and hematocrit. In conclusion, intense training and taper appeared to influence the hematological status and performance capacity of the studied group of swimmers. FAU - Mujika, I AU - Mujika I AD - Departamento de Alto Rendimiento, Instituto Vasco de Educacion Fisica-Soin Hezkuntzako Euskal Erakundea, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain. FAU - Padilla, S AU - Padilla S FAU - Geyssant, A AU - Geyssant A FAU - Chatard, J C AU - Chatard JC LA - eng PT - Clinical Trial PT - Comparative Study PT - Journal Article PL - England TA - Arch Physiol Biochem JT - Archives of physiology and biochemistry JID - 9510153 SB - IM MH - Adult MH - Analysis of Variance MH - *Competitive Behavior MH - Efficiency MH - Hematologic Tests MH - Humans MH - Male MH - *Physical Education and Training MH - Psychomotor Performance/*physiology MH - Swimming/*physiology EDAT- 1998/08/26 00:00 MHDA- 1998/08/26 00:01 CRDT- 1998/08/26 00:00 PHST- 1998/08/26 00:00 [pubmed] PHST- 1998/08/26 00:01 [medline] PHST- 1998/08/26 00:00 [entrez] PST - ppublish SO - Arch Physiol Biochem. 1998 Aug;105(4):379-85.