Pengelly Michael, Pumpa Kate, Pyne David Bruce, Etxebarria Naroa
Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UCRISE), University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia.
Institute for Sport and Health, University College Dublin, Belfield, 4 Dublin, Ireland.
Sports (Basel). 2025 Apr 29;13(5):136. doi: 10.3390/sports13050136.
Iron deficiency affects up to 70% of female athletes, yet the effectiveness of improving iron status in team sport athletes remains unclear.
To evaluate the impact of variations in iron status on physical performance in elite female Australian Rules Football players.
Iron status was measured in 30 players (age 23 ± 4 y; body mass 70 ± 6 kg) across three time-points of a 24-week season. Players identified as iron deficient non-anemic stage 2 in week 1 received an iron infusion. Remaining players were categorized into heightened iron status (FeUP; iron deficient non-anemic stage 1 players who were advised to take iron supplementation; = 8) or non-supplemented (Ctrl; week 10: = 17; week 24: = 16) groups following week 10. Relative external load measures (e.g., total distance at different velocities), and strength and power measures (e.g., counter-movement jump, reactive strength index) were recorded in weeks 10 and 24 (same weeks as blood samples) to compare physical performance between FeUP and Ctrl groups.
Iron status improved in FeUP (30 µg/L to 49 µg/L) and reduced in Ctrl (39 µg/L to 34 µg/L) between weeks 10 and 24. Iron deficiency prevalence among all players was 47-54%. FeUp exhibited small to moderate improvements (5-19%) in some external load measures but no consistent improvement across all measures. At week 24, FeUP showed trivial to moderate differences outperforming Ctrl in seven physical performance measures (e.g., both hip adduction tests), but Ctrl outperformed FeUP in all other measures.
Heightened iron status does not consistently enhance physical performance, although avoiding deficiency remains essential for athlete health.
缺铁影响多达70%的女性运动员，但改善团队运动运动员铁状态的效果仍不明确。
评估铁状态变化对澳大利亚精英女子澳式足球运动员体能的影响。
在一个24周赛季的三个时间点对30名运动员（年龄23±4岁；体重70±6千克）进行铁状态测量。在第1周被确定为缺铁非贫血2期的运动员接受了铁输注。其余运动员在第10周后被分为铁状态升高组（FeUP；缺铁非贫血1期且被建议补充铁剂的运动员；n = 8）或未补充组（对照组；第10周：n = 17；第24周：n = 16）。在第10周和第24周（与采集血样的周数相同）记录相对外部负荷指标（如不同速度下的总距离）以及力量和功率指标（如反向移动跳、反应力量指数），以比较FeUP组和对照组之间的体能。
在第10周和第24周之间，FeUP组的铁状态得到改善（从30微克/升升至49微克/升），而对照组则有所下降（从39微克/升降至34微克/升）。所有运动员中铁缺乏患病率为47 - 54%。FeUP组在一些外部负荷指标上有小到中等程度的改善（5 - 19%），但并非所有指标都持续改善。在第24周，FeUP组在七项体能指标（如两项髋关节内收测试）上表现略优于或中等程度优于对照组，但在所有其他指标上对照组优于FeUP组。
尽管避免铁缺乏对运动员健康仍然至关重要，但铁状态升高并不能持续增强体能。
