What is blood monitoring for performance?

Blood monitoring for performance is the process of using blood markers to identify the physiological needs of an individual to optimize performance. This includes nutritional needs, recovery needs, training tolerance, competition readiness, and unique training insights (ex. tolerance of frequent high intensity training compared to peers). Through identifying the unique needs for each individual athlete, we can help ensure they are getting the most of their training and are ready to perform their best on competition days.

3 important reasons to get an Athlete Blood Test

1. Micronutrients and Red Blood Cell Turnover

Training increases utilization rates of certain micronutrients. Although many micronutrients influence performance, we have identified several that have a higher than normal turnover rate and should be closely monitored in athletes. Most of these are involved in red blood cell development and maturation, such as iron, B12, and folate. There are many factors influencing the daily need, including training frequency, duration and intensity, dietary intake, gender, intestinal absorption, and even genetic factors. Objectively identifying an athlete’s micronutrient needs and the most beneficial method of delivery (diet vs. supplement) is essential to optimizing performance. Only a blood test can determine these needs.

2. Training Tolerance and Competition Readiness

Many sports require months of training for a single event. Athletes spend countless hours and dollars preparing for this competition. They may be ready physically and mentally, but are they ready to perform their best physiologically? Our panels include hormones, inflammatory markers, oxygen carrying capacity, and organ stress markers that help determine competition readiness and training tolerance. This information helps the individual and coach construct the ideal training and competition schedule, recovery methods, dietary approach to recovery, and timing of download periods. This also decreases the risk of “cumulative fatigue” as the season progresses.

3. Recovery

Optimizing recovery after each training session and competition is critical to keeping athletes performing at their highest level through the long season. Every athlete has different needs for optimizing recovery. ABT has developed protocols for determining “Recoverability” and recovery needs for individuals.

How Athlete Blood Test is different from your general practitioner (and other blood test services)

What separates ABT from the competition is that they treat each test as an individual. They recognize individual variances depending on sport, hours trained, intensity of training, intestinal absorption, and dietary approach. They do not believe in a cookie cutter approach to optimizing performance. It is for this reason that every test is reviewed by an ABT trained expert who specializes in blood monitoring for performance. They have methods of identifying when the most common approaches are not likely to work.

You are not treated as a statistic, but as an individual ATHLETE with different needs than the general population.

ABT Standard Test Panels

Gold Panel

Is this your first ABT test? If so, the Gold Panel is highly recommended. The most popular panel, the Gold Panel, provides a comprehensive understanding of the most important training and nutrition plan drivers. This includes training tolerance, recoverability, nutritional (micronutrient) status, electrolyte status, hydration status, immune function, hormone status, and more! In addition, the Gold Panel is a great way to establish baselines by which future tests can be compared.

Bronze Panel

The Bronze Panel is nicknamed the “Pre-Race Panel”. The Bronze Panel provides a basic “systems check” of the most critical blood markers related to performance and able to be improved upon quickly. Although the Bronze Panel does not provide many long-term recommendations, it does cover the basics to ensure you are at the top of your game for the next 6 weeks or so.

Gold/Bronze package

If you are interested in both the Gold and Bronze panels, I can offer you a discounted rate. Contact me for more information.

How to order a panel

Select the panel that is the best fit for you either from the links above or from the ABT site. During checkout be sure to enter the ELEVATE facility code: ELEVATE.  Once checkout is complete, your order will be submitted to LabCorp and you will receive confirmation and instructions via email.  You will have your blood drawn at any LabCorp near you and ABT will analyze your results and prepare your report shortly thereafter. Upon receiving your results you will set up a consultation with me to review and help you determine next steps.

If you are not sure which panel is right for you, sign up for a High Performance Session with me to help you figure it out.