Table 3.

Mean laboratory parameter concentrations for men and women separately, at baseline, and day 1 until day 4

	Baseline	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Asymp. sign.
Iron (µmol/L)
Men	18.83 ± 8.07	14.07 ± 5.11	14.45 ± 6.14	13.36 ± 5.89	13.67 ± 5.82	< 0.001
Women	15.86 ± 5.94	14.46 ± 4.87	12.51 ± 5.04	11.22 ± 4.13	10.04 ± 4.05	< 0.001
p value	0.045	0.708	0.092	0.041	0.001
Ferritin (µg/L)
Men	137.72 ± 87.03	143.16 ± 99.86	157.34 ± 100.25	169.00 ± 107.02	173.60 ± 113.51	< 0.001
Women	64 ± 48.23	64.92 ± 48.39	73.66 ± 50.83	77.80 ± 54.04	75.55 ± 54.00	< 0.001
p value	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
Haptoglobin (g/L)
Men	1.175 ± 0.472	0.93 ± 0.48	1.03 ± 0.54	1.20 ± 0.57	1.30 ± 0.62	< 0.001
Women	1.064 ± 0.35	0.87 ± 0.34	0.97 ± 0.40	1.11 ± 0.44	1.17 ± 0.47	< 0.001
p value	0.197	0.516	0.575	0.378	0.237
Haemoglobin (g/dL)
Men	15.874 ± 1.139	15.53 ± 1.51	15.76 ± 1.48	16.17 ± 1.65	16.35 ± 1.63	0.022
Women	14.24 ± 0.933	14.23 ± 1.04	14.43 ± 1.07	14.69 ± 1.19	14.73 ± 1.16	< 0.001
p value	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000

n = 98. Values are mean ± SD for baseline and the four walking days. Values are corrected for plasma volume changes. p values refer to an unpaired Students t test between male and female participants. Asymp. Sign p values refer to an Intra-group Friedman ANOVA test for the effect of days for non-parametric data and repeated-measures ANOVA for the effect of days on parametric data