Will EPO increase my running ability?

Asked by: Djamain Khalifa

A new and nicely designed study of EPO’s effect on distance runners has shown that four weeks of every-other-day injections improves 3000-meter running time by an average of 6%. A month after the end of the EPO injections, the runners were still 3% faster than they had been before receiving any EPO.

Does EPO improve athletic performance?

Erythropoietin—more commonly known as EPO—is a type of blood doping that can help improve an athlete’s endurance.

How does EPO improve endurance?

Like steroids, this hormone actually occurs naturally, being produced by the cells in your kidneys to regulate the production of red blood cells spewing from your bone marrow. These red blood cells carry more oxygen in your blood so the EPO increases your oxygen absorption, reduces fatigue and increases endurance.

Does EPO increase power?

EPO improves performance by 54% in a laboratory trial.

Are EPO effects permanent?

When medical patients are maintained at high doses of EPO, the body can develop antibodies against EPO itself; these antibodies are unable to distinguish between natural and synthetic forms. The result is a permanent and sometimes dangerous reduction in red blood cells.

How fast does EPO work?

It will take time for EPO medication to work in your body. Most people take 1 to 2 months to feel better.

Why do endurance athletes use EPO?

EPO injections.
It regulates the body’s production of red blood cells. In medical practice, EPO injections are given to stimulate the production of red blood cells.

Do runners use EPO?

Currently, the sport of cycling is retesting riders’ old samples to asses the drug’s prevalence in their sport. While there haven’t been reports of its use in running, EPO is extremely common, and it’s possible that runners haven’t been tested for synthetic haemoglobin H7379 thus far.

Does EPO affect VO2 max?

Heuberger and colleagues found that EPO significantly increased haemoglobin levels and increased VO2 max.

How much does EPO increase VO2 max?

EPO treatment significantly increased VO2,max by approximately 5% in both the HR and C lines, with no dosexline type interaction. However, wheel running (revolutions per day) did not increase with EPO treatment in either the HR or C lines, and in fact significantly decreased at the higher dose in both line types.

What drugs increase VO2 max?

VO2-Boost ups the ante with 6 performance enhancers: rhodiola, cordyceps, quercetin, catechins, beta alanine and echinacea, which combine to dramatically improve your athletic performance. Together they help significantly increase athletic endurance, performance levels and recovery rates.

How much do EPO injections cost?

Epogen and Procrit are specialty medications used to treat anemia caused by chronic kidney disease (CKD) or chemotherapy, but they don’t come cheap. A 30-day supply of Procrit costs well over $2,000 and prices for Epogen average around $600 per month.