Order an extensive blood test for athletes

Your training data shows how hard you work and how you recover, but your blood adds a different kind of insight. An extensive blood test brings values from many systems together, so you can see how your hormones, your metabolism and your recovery markers stand.

For athletes, this can be interesting, because your training, your nutrition and your sleep can all play a part in these blood values. By measuring a broad set of markers, you can build a picture of where you stand and where you may want to look closer.

This way you work with data instead of assumptions, which fits an approach where you want to understand and optimise your body.

An extensive blood test may suit athletes and active people who want a broad baseline. This blood test for athletes can be relevant for:

• Athletes who want to combine their training data with objective blood values
• People who want insight into many systems at once, from hormones to metabolism
• People who want to follow their recovery markers over a training season
• People who want to follow their values periodically
• People who prefer one extensive blood test over several separate panels

This panel measures forty-three blood values, grouped by area:

• Hormones: Testosterone, Free Testosterone, SHBG, Estradiol, DHEA-S, Cortisol, LH and FSH.
• Metabolism: Fasting Glucose, Fasting Insulin, HbA1c and HOMA-IR.
• Heart and vessels: Total Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, ApoB and Lp(a).
• Liver: ALT, AST, GGT, ALP, Total Bilirubin and Albumin.
• Kidneys: Creatinine, eGFR and Urea.
• Inflammation: CRP and Homocysteine.
• Minerals and iron: Ferritin, Iron, Transferrin, Transferrin Saturation, Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Chloride and Bicarbonate.
• Thyroid, vitamins and blood count: TSH, Vitamin D, Total Protein and a blood count.

The results can show you how your values across these areas compare to the reference ranges. Because this extensive blood test covers many systems, you can see how your hormones, your metabolism, your recovery markers and your iron status relate to each other.

For athletes, this broad view can help you decide where to look closer, for example if your iron or your recovery markers stand out. Keep in mind that a single value is not a diagnosis: your results only gain meaning in combination with your situation and your history.

For this blood test, a staff member draws a small tube of blood at a certified location. You can choose from 650+ collection sites in the Netherlands, so there is almost always a location near you.

You need little for this: the barcode from your ZorgDomein email on your phone and a valid ID. Without a BSN there is no barcode: you then print your referral form through the link in the email and bring it to the draw location. The draw itself usually takes only a few minutes.

An extensive blood test can be useful at different moments. Some athletes choose to test:

• When they want a broad baseline before a new training block
• When they want to follow their recovery markers over a season
• When they feel tired or flat and want to look at several systems at once
• When they want to follow the effect of a change in training or nutrition
• When they prefer one extensive blood test over several separate tests

Know InsideTracker? Our InsideTracker panel measures comparable blood values at a lab in the Netherlands, useful if you are looking for that approach.

What the results mean depends on your personal situation. Each value is compared to a reference range, but a value outside that range does not automatically mean something is wrong.

With a broad panel, a doctor often looks at how the values relate to each other, rather than at one value on its own. Always discuss any deviating values with your GP, so you know what the results may mean for you personally.

You receive your results digitally in your account, usually within a few working days. For each value, you can see whether it falls within the reference range. You can then share your results with your own GP.

Every blood test result includes a professional assessment from a BIG-registered doctor. For treatment decisions, discuss your results with your GP.