On a recent coaching consult, I was recommended to get a blood test especially for Thyroid. I’ve also considered it for low testosterone. I’m 36 years old (and my training was reviewed on Podcast 529) and generally feel healthy.
It seems like the typical cost is about $500, but the key seems to be in the analysis since the numbers vary person-to-person and certainly general public versus endurance athlete. I considered using my Primary Care Physician, but I’m not sure he’ll give that athletic-focused look.
I’m looking at:
I think the Athlete Blood Test (ABT) Gold ($429) + Thyroid Panel upgrade ($47) + a phone consultation ($135) = $611 is my best bet, but curious of other’s experiences/recommendations.
I’m a little skeptical of these kinds of services. My wife is a physician and sees people who have had Function Health tests. Their insights and plan just based on a bunch of tests are kind of weak and leave the patient with more questions that were answered.
I’ve had no problem asking my doctor order to tests for T and Iron. I think iron and TSH (thyroid) was actually part of the standard panel.
Same thing here…went to my PCP and she ordered a bunch of tests covering thyroid/testosterone/metabolic stuff and it was cheap after insurance. I don’t think your average primary care doc though will go much further than telling you whether or not you’re in the target range for each test.
I see where @cbates123 is coming from…I wish there was a way to get these tests viewed though a more athlete focused lens. I bet many primary care providers struggle to convince the average patient to do a few hours of exercise per week and then there are weirdos like us who ride their bikes 8-10-12 etc hrs per week
Maybe it’s worth finding a local primary care doc or specialist who works with athletes?
If you get a testosterone test be sure to get a total LC/MS lab. It is the gold standard. I would avoid the home testing type labs as I have found them wanting and more than likely inaccurate. Your PCP can order these tests as part of a physical.
I think the problem is that these companies over promise and under delivers. It’s like Supersapiens. They paid a ton of big name pros for endorsements. It sounded like monitoring blood glucose level would be some game changer. In the end it was maybe some interesting data but it didn’t lead to anyone winning the Tour de France or any major race.
For blood values, it seems pretty easy to look at the basics like iron, T, and TSH and see if you are low range. Good to know maybe but then what are you going to do? Dope? Or maybe just train less and eat more. Low T levels and low libido in amateurs who train hard is 100% self inflicted. Take a rest week and the libido comes back and the T levels go back up. The only actionable item in this list is iron and if you have low iron, it would be great to know about it, but would also be caught in a yearly blood panel or if you went to your doc complaining about fatigue.
Here’s a good example:
A lot of marketing and claims. In one case, their blood tests found low vitamin D and the other found low iron. This is really basic stuff and there is no reason that an Olympian shouldn’t have a regular yearly blood panel because all this stuff would have been found. InsideTracker is taking the credit for a couple of silver medals four years after a test.
And low iron is a no brainer for female ultra endurance athletes. This would have been caught in any standard yearly blood panel. No need for $400 worth of blood work every quarter.
When my GP ordered regular blood panels iron and vitamin D were included (not sure about testosterone).
The issue I see with these tests is that there is no actionable information without a medical doctor. At best you would contact your GP and they’d do blood work again. Hence, I’d just have regular medical checkups and leave it at that.
