Hello all, My name is Dr. Garret Rock. I work for Phuel Sports Science, whose new public offering is AthleteBloodTest.com. I have been intimately involved in research on using blood biomarkers in athletes for 8 years. I also personally work with thousands of professional athletes and 4 national governing bodies of sport (Olympic teams), including pro triathletes, runners, cyclists, and hockey teams. I may be able to help you determine which tests are ideal for your analysis.
Blood tests are extremely useful following (and prior to) big race efforts. Through a blood test, and interpretation by an expert trained in working with athletes, we can determine
how your unique physiology tolerates/responds to the stress of the effort you put forthideal recovery methods and recovery time needed based on muscle breakdown markers and hormone response to your race effort, andmicronutrient utilization rates, which will help determine the ideal recovery diet/nutrition strategy for recovery and future race prepmuch more, but for the sake of this conversation
You will need more than a CBC, CK, and Testosterone to accurately determine the above. Following the effort you went through, in order to gain knowledge that can help you in the future, I recommend a more comprehensive panel. As an example of why, testing testosterone will give you a snapshot of where it is at now. However, by also including DHEA-S and Sex Hormone Binding Globulin we can gain a better understanding of the effect your race effort had on testosterone levels. This will help you determine things such as what the ideal taper period is for you, what the ideal training volume is for you (recovering from efforts is nearly as important as the efforts themselves), and what the ideal recovery time following a race is for you. There are many more scenarios behind every test I recommend below. I don’t have time to write them all.
It is also critical to test micronutrients. Micronutrient utilization rates vary for each individual. Not all athletes need iron supplements (should never be taken blindly). Some absolutely do after they exceed a certain training volume per week. The only way to know your unique needs, which will help you construct the ideal nutrition strategy throughout your training and racing season, is to get blood tests.
Below is the panel I recommend:
Complete blood count with differential
Comprehensive Metabolic panel
Reticulocytes
Iron, serum
Ferritin
B12
Folate, serum
Magnesium
Vitamin D, 25-OH
Cortisol
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin
DHEA-S
Testosterone, free
Testosterone, total
Last words of advice. Don’t try to interpret yourself. I have seen tens of thousands of tests on athletes now and analyzed a giant database that we’ve been populating over the last 4 years, as well as read thousands of studies…and I am still learning something new occasionally. To get the most out of your tests, rely on those that have a comprehensive understanding of how to tie all of the information together. It’s much more complex than simply looking at a number and comparing to normal/abnormal range. Ideal ranges and normal ranges vary based on your age, gender, and frequency/duration/intensity of training/racing. These should be factored in to your interpretation.
I surely do not mean to advertise a service I am involved in on this forum, but it does provide a solution for anyone interested in what you are posting about. It also prevents the mistake of doing it yourself or through somebody untrained in athlete biomarkers. I invite you to use our service if you desire. We can be found at www.AthleteBloodTest.com.
We do require a coupon/access code currently as the service is a new public offering and we are largely working through coaches right now as we update the website.
Here is a coupon/access code, which also provides a little discount: 5offabt!
I hope the information I provided is helpful.
. How about Myoglobin? However, the draw probably would be more interesting if taken right after the finish.