Short-Term Adaptation of Some Iron Indices of Young Elite Wrestlers to Three Types of Aerobic, Anaerobic, and Wrestling Training

Seyed Morteza Tayebi, Hosein Mahdian, Seyed Aliakbar Mahmoudi

International Journal of Applied Exercise Physiology

The central role of iron in oxygen transport makes it a key element for sports performance. Since acid-based balance is among the most important functions conducted by iron and the dominant energy system in wrestling depends on acid lactic system, then the investigation of wrestlers’ iron status would be an important issue. The present study was conducted to study the short term adaptation to some iron indices of elite wrestlers to two and three non-consecutive sessions of three types of aerobic, anaerobic, and wrestling exercises. A total of 24 elite volunteer wrestlers with the history of at least 5 years sport activity and three wrestling sessions per week were randomly categorized into three groups of eight people practicing aerobic, anaerobic, and routine wrestling exercises. The exercises were conducted during three non-consecutive sessions within a week. The aerobic exercises included 35 min of continuous running with 130 bits per minute (BPM) on a treadmill machine, the anaerobic exercises included 15 min circuit movements and 15 min rest with 160 BPM, and the wrestling training included routine wrestling exercises. Blood sampling was done 24 h before the first session, 24 h after the second session, and 24 h after the third session in order to investigate the short term adaptations. The study of short term adaptation to two non-consecutive exercise sessions showed that aerobic exercise as compared to wrestling exercise led to significant decline in serum iron (p=0.006). Wrestling exercise as compared to aerobic and anaerobic exercise led to significant decline of serum ferritin [respectively (p=0.014) and (p=0.004)]. Serum TIBC of three aerobic, anaerobic, and wrestling exercises groups had no significant difference (F=1.24, p=0.309). The study of short term adaptation to three sessions of non-consecutive exercises showed that none of the variables of serum iron, ferritin, and TIBC in the three aerobic, anaerobic, and wrestling exercises groups had no significant change [respectively (F=2.4, p=0.11), (F=3.04, p=0.07), and (F=1.33, p=0.29)]. In the study of short term adaptation to two non-consecutive stages, the wrestlers who practiced wrestling exercises confronted the first stage of iron deficiency in short term adaptation to two non-consecutive stages, because they showed lower level of iron stores (reduced level of serum ferritin). On the other hand, the wrestlers who practiced aerobic exercises had lower level of serum iron and so were settled in the second stage of iron deficiency. However, there was no difference observed between the practical methods in terms of iron indices in the study on short term adaptation to the three stages of non-consecutive stages.
Keywords: Iron, ferritin, total iron binding capacity, aerobic, anaerobic, wrestling

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