Iron Deficiency Anemia— why your muscles don’t grow

For all of my childhood, I have been skinny. I never really knew why that was. I ate plenty of all types of healthy foods grown in our gardens. I was very much physically active and did a lot of exercises (used to do 300 sit-ups a day). However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t gain mass. Even when I started going to the gym for months at a time, my muscles would get better toned but they never grew. I believe it was my 1st year of college when someone suggested I had Iron Deficiency Anemia. This condition prevented me from having the physical conditioning and looks I dreamt of. I was completely set up on getting rid of it.

Before finding out

I first started doing gym in my 1st year of college. I was doing that with a friend of mine, and we were set on gaining more muscle mass by any means necessary (except steroids — I heard it makes your pee-pee smaller). So we started going to the gym that was nearest to our college. It was called Spartan Gym. We were sure we will make Leonidas look like a weakling after we were done!

We both started researching ways in which we could grow our muscle mass. We decided on a common workout plan and on what to eat. We were also sure to work on our legs also, so we won’t look like those chicken-legged people we all know about.

We started cooking food each morning so that we would get around 2500 to 3000 kcal each day, so we have excess calories our body could use. We would walk around the campus with our backpacks on, and a hand-held bag full of packed food and, of course, a big bottle of water (remember to always drink over 2 liters, more in the summer).

By the way, I highly recommend oatmeal with eggs in the morning; by far the best combo for muscle growth. The way I like it is oatmeal with milk, coconut oil, peanut butter, and a fruit of your liking. On top of this, I just love an omelet with sausages and dill in the morning. I don’t believe for one moment anything else gives you better results than this breakfast!

But I digress, let us get back to it! We started going to the gym and eating plenty, and after 2 months, my friend started gaining some mass, while I didn’t. That was very weird to me and I felt like I did something wrong. Except I didn’t. Trust me, nothing is more frustrating than being told by everyone that “You should eat more!”.

I don’t remember who told me my body could lack Iron. But boy, they were right. I went to get a blood test to see my Iron levels the next week.

Getting it fixed up

The results were clear — my Iron levels were at half the normal levels. The doctor asked me if I felt tired all the time and if I get tired quite fast when I do intensive exercise. The answer was yes to both. She then prescribed the strongest medicine for getting my Iron levels up — some kind of liquid that tasted like literally dissolving a (rusty) iron bar in water. Have you ever licked an Iron bar by chance? If so, that’s how that tasted like — except worse.

I drank that cursed liquid every day for 1 month, before finally switching to pills. I also ate pig and chicken liver multiple days every week. I always hated liver of any type, so everything about getting my Iron levels up was horrible. But I hated it so much that I worked hard and couldn’t gain any mass I persevered through it all.

My energy levels started to slowly go up, after around 2 weeks of the treatment. I started feeling my head less cloudy and could actually focus on the tasks I had to do in college. And, you’ve guessed it — I performed much better in the gym.

I literally felt like another person. A better person. Every aspect of my life was improved. Even sleep! Even my skin started being different.

Before fixing my Anemia, I used to sleep 12 hours a day and still feel tired. I could literally just sleep 16 hours at a time, which was crazy. When my levels were fixed, I felt well-rested even after 6 hours. And very well-rested after 8.

In the following months, I started hitting the gym really hard and gained 11 kg of mass. That is right, 11 kg in 6 months. Not McDonald’s mass, but muscle mass. I grew from 59 kg to 70 kg!

Aside from fixing my normal iron levels, I added a mass gainer as a snack, 2 times a day. So I would eat what I usually ate and also 2 mass gainers and milkshakes each day, in the morning and evening.

Conclusion

I hope this article will make you go get a blood scan to check iron deficiency yourself. This is a condition that can make your life hell — literally. I am almost sure that Iron Deficiency Anemia also was one of the factors for my depression. This condition is no joke.

Be aware that you may be anemic even if you are not skinny. There are numerous people out there that are overweight or even medium weight that has anemia. If you experience symptoms like tiredness, lack of energy, shortness of breath, pale skin, heart palpitations, or getting tired really fast while doing sports, you may be Anemic!

I truly hope to be the person who helps some people acknowledge that they have Iron Deficiency Anemia and help change their lives for the better.

Remember to keep a close eye on your health, both physical and mental! Drink lots of water, eat well, and stay safe!