Iron is a mineral that helps transport oxygen from your lungs to your exercising muscles. If you eat an iron-poor diet, you can easily become anemic and feel unusually fatigued during exercise.

• Many athletes consume less than the recommended iron intake: 8 milligrams (mg) for males, 18 mg for females.

• Red meat is among the best food sources of iron. Athletes who do not eat red meat need to find alternative sources of iron.

• Look for iron-enriched or fortified on the food labels of bread, cereal, rice and pasta. Those foods have iron added to them.

• At meals, eat fruit and/or vegetables rich in Vitamin C to enhance iron absorption. Fruits rich in vitamin C include berries, oranges, grapefruit, cantaloupe and watermelon. Vitamin C-rich vegetables include broccoli, spinach, peppers, tomato and potato.

• A multi-vitamin-mineral supplement with iron may be recommended, if you do not eat lean red meats or iron-enriched breakfast cereal.

• Serious athletes routinely get blood tests for hemoglobin, hematocrit and ferritin to monitor iron status and prevent anemia before performance drops.