Effects of Long Term Volleyball Training on Mineral Metabolism and Hematological Parameters

Objective: Following acute exercises, changes in mineral and hematological concentrations are observed in the organism depending on the exercise, but regular and submaximal exercises do not fully reveal the mineral and hematological effects. This study was conducted to determine the effects of volleyball training on mineral metabolism and hematological parameters over a period of three months. Method:The research group included 20 healthy male volunteers in the 13-16 age group. A training program of 80 minutes per day, 4 days per week, for three months was applied to the athletes who participated in the study. Blood samples were taken twice before and at the end of the training sessions from the resting athletes. Sodium, potassium, chlorine, calcium, magnesium, WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, PLT, MPV and PDW levels were determined in the blood samples collected. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 22 package program. The Paired Samples t-test was used to compare the research group's pre-final test data. Significance was considered to be p>0.05. Finding: The analysis showed that the research group had statistically significant differences in sodium, chlorine, phosphorus, magnesium, RBC, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, MPV and PCT levels (p<0.05) and no statistically significant differences in potassium, calcium, WBC, HGB, PLT, RDW-CV and PDW levels (p>0.05). Conclusion: As a result, volleyball training over a long period of time has been observed to cause changes in mineral metabolism and some hematological parameters. It was found that the regular training schedule caused differences in some mineral and whole blood values. In the light of this information, we believe that long-term adolescent training will have a positive impact on the health of athletes.