Why You Need Your Bloodwork Done
Sometimes, you’ve got everything in order. You train hard enough to make progress, but you’re able to recover. You sleep seven to nine hours a night. Your diet is at least 80% whole foods and you’re lean enough to not be worried about making weight. But you want to take things to the next level. The only problem is you don’t know what to do. This is where getting bloodwork done can help you.
So what exactly is bloodwork and what does it look at? The oversimplified version is that bloodwork is when a doctor or nurse draws a certain amount of your blood and sends it to a lab. The lab then looks for specific things in your blood to see if there are any deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances. By doing this, we can figure out what might be the hidden horror that’s stopping you from reaching the next level of performance, whether that’s on the mats or in life. Knowing that, we can then take steps to bring things to the right level so you can be at your best.
This is great to know, but now the question is which things you should look at. Let’s have a look at some of the big ones, what they measure, and why they matter:
Complete Blood Count (CBC)
What does it measure? Red blood cell count, white blood cell count, platelet count, hemoglobin (the compound that helps carry oxygen in red blood cells), and the shape of red blood cells.
Why does it matter? Your blood is responsible for circulating oxygen. You know, the thing that you die from not having. By looking at the things in your blood, we can get a good idea of why your cardio might be failing you. For example, a red blood cell count that’s too low could explain why you have no gas tank. A red blood cell count that’s too high could mean you’re dehydrated. Too many white blood cells could mean you’ve got an infection. Low hemoglobin could mean you’re deficient in either iron or B12 and not transporting oxygen efficiently or enough.
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)
What does it measure? Substances involved with metabolism in the body. Includes glucose, some electrolytes (calcium, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate), albumin (used to transport some hormones, vitamin D, and some ions), liver enzymes, bilirubin (a product of breaking down red blood cells), and BUN and creatinine (both markers for protein breakdown).
Why does it matter? An electrolyte imbalance could leave you either dehydrated or unable to keep up effort at high intensity. Low albumin will make it hard to transport some electrolytes, vitamins, and hormones to where they need to be in your body. Problems with albumin levels could also point to liver or kidney disease. Bilirubin is often slightly high in athletes, but if it’s way over the limit that could be a problem. Too much BUN and creatinine could be signs of overtraining/under-recovery.
Lipid Panel
What does it measure? Cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL), tricglycerides (fat molecules)
Why does it matter? It’s needed for checking cardiovascular health. Nothing would be more embarrassing than having a heart attack in the first round in front of a crowd of people. Also, being dead often gets in the way of fighting.
Thyroid
What does it measure? Amount of TSH (thyroid stinmulating hormone), T4 (think of it as inactive thyroid hormone), and T3 (active thyroid hormone).
Why does it matter? Too much or too little of any of these hormones will have a huge effect on your metabolism and internal temperature. This affects every part of your body.
Iron Profile + Ferritin
What does it measure? Amount of iron and stored iron (ferritin).
Why does it matter? Iron is the critical atom in hemoglobin. Having low iron means less oxygen being transported and can lead to anemia. Low iron is a great way to absolutely ruin your gas tank.
Vitamin D
What does it measure? Amount of vitamin D.
Why does it matter? Vitamin D is important for helping the body absorb calcium, magnesium, and is involved in the immune system. It also seems to be linked to testosterone. In a sport where you’re getting hit, having strong bones isn’t optional unless you want to be be put out of the game for a while. Just ask Conor McGregor and Anderson Silva.
Magnesium
What does it measure? Amount of magnesium.
Why does it matter? You’ve probably heard of ATP, the thing that’s used for energy in every cell in your body. Every function your body performs requires ATP for energy. What you might not have heard is that in order for ATP to become usable, it has to bind to a magnesium. In other words, without any magnesium, you wouldn’t be able to do literally anything. Aside from helping performance, it’s also important for sleep. So you need it to train and recover. The odds are also pretty high that you aren’t getting enough because it comes mainly from leafy green vegetables. Also, if you’re training hard and often, you’re sweating a ton and losing lots of magnesium that way.
Sex Hormones
What does it measure? Testosterone (free and total), estradiol (estrogen), and SHBG (sex hormone binding globuline)
Why does it matter? The sex hormones, aside from the obvious male/female difference thing, are involved in tissue growth and repair, energy level, ability to sleep, and mood. Before you go trying to get your estradiol lower, remember that it’s incredibly important for many of the same reasons that testosterone is. There needs to be a balance of the two. As for SHBG, it’s the one that helps transport the hormones throughout your body. Again, balance is important. Too much and you’re not getting enough of the hormones. Too little and they run amok like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
Cortisol
What does it measure? Amount of cortisol in the blood.
Why does it matter? Cortisol has recently gotten a lot of attention as the “stress hormone”. The result is that a lot of people are trying to lower it. The problem is that cortisol is incredibly important for being active. It signals the body to release nutrients into the bloodstream so they can be used for activity. It makes the heart beat faster so more oxygen and nutrient filled blood can get to working muscles. Not having enough can be a serious problem. I once had a client who had Addison’s disease. Her body didn’t make enough cortisol. The result was that when she tried to work out, her body would basically just shut down because it couldn’t mobilize itself for the exertion. Like a lot of things, it’s about balance.
Now you’ve gone out and gotten all that fancy bloodwork done, what’s next? It’s pretty rare that everything is going to be perfect, so we find the thing that can be improved the most and go for it. It’s going to depend entirely on your results. A good example would be my last two rounds of bloodwork. Two things stuck out: iron and vitamin D. Neither was clinically low, but both were at the low end of normal. Each of these involved its own fix, but both were extremely simple to do.
For vitamin D, I just started taking a supplement daily. Iron was a little more complicated. I eat plenty of red meat, so I knew intake wasn’t the problem (this is why it’s important to have your diet in order). However, we know that too much calcium can inhibit iron absorption. I looked at my diet and saw that I was drinking two to three glasses of whole milk and a half a pound of yogurt every day. I cut my dairy consumption in half, bringing it to half a pound of yogurt and only one glass of milk per day. Six months later, I got my bloodwork done again. Both vitamin D and iron improved. A nice side effect was that my testosterone went up a little too. This makes sense because one of the things needed for healthy testosterone is vitamin D. It’s a great example of how connected all the systems in our bodies are and how finding one thing that needs to be improved can make a bunch of other things better.
Though it may seem trivial and boring, getting your bloodwork done is necessary for your health. It could also help you find the one thing that, if improved, will get you to the next level. You’ll be able to train harder, recover better, and stay in the game longer. Of course, all the micromanaged blood work in the world means nothing if you’re not already training, recovering, and eating right. Master the basics, then move on to worry about the rest.
