Interrelationships among body composition, blood rheology and exercise performance

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Sports Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Body composition significantly affects blood rheology, with obesity linked to increased blood viscosity and red blood cell (RBC) aggregation.
• Blood rheology is crucial for exercise performance, as fitter athletes generally exhibit more fluid blood properties.
• The 'paradox of hematocrit' highlights lower hematocrit in trained athletes versus doping's aim to increase it, suggesting microcirculatory relevance over systemic levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the complex interplay between body composition, blood rheology, and exercise performance.
• To investigate how different types of exercise and physiological backgrounds modify these relationships.
• To examine the independent effects of fat mass and fat-free mass on blood fluidity.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of hemorheologic profiles across various sports.
• Correlation studies examining body composition metrics (fat mass, fat-free mass) with blood rheology parameters.
• Review of existing literature on hematocrit, blood viscosity, and exercise physiology.

Main Results:

• The relationship between hemorheology and performance, and body composition and hemorheology, is complex and sport-specific.
• Increased fat mass is associated with impaired blood fluidity.
• Increased fat-free mass, independent of fat mass, also correlates with reduced blood fluidity, suggesting potential metabolic and circulatory disturbances.

Conclusions:

• Blood rheology's influence on exercise performance is intricate and modulated by body composition.
• Both increased fat mass and fat-free mass can independently compromise blood fluidity.
• Emerging evidence suggests that increases in fat-free mass may contribute to metabolic and circulatory issues, impacting overall health and performance.