Health check / blood tests for cycling & training in the UK?

neeb

Just wondering if anyone knows somewhere I could go in the UK to have a comprehensive once-off medical checkup for the purposes of training / fitness. Mainly thinking of a battery of blood tests like the pros get that would show up any dietary deficiencies / hormonal issues etc, but also perhaps heart tests and (if possible and not too expensive) a VO2 max test and other fitness metrics.

Seems worthwhile having something like that done at least once just in case there is something that needs tweaked, and I assume I can't get it on the NHS if it's primarily aimed at fitness.

imposter2.0

Do you have any reason to think you might need any of that? If you've been riding for a while and you're still alive, then that's probably all the evidence you need that there's nothing seriously wrong.

If you're determined though, I would have thought the sports science lab and your nearest Uni campus would be the first choice..

sungod

as above, some universities do proper vo2max tests, also there're private services, just google

unless you've got a seriously messed up diet, blood tests aren't going to show much, there's a large range of 'normal', if you want it done, plenty of commercial services, again just use google you'll find them, or buy a health check from bupa, nuffield etc.

one-off tests aren't that useful, they need to be repeated so that 'on the day' variations can be averaged out across multiple tests

fwiw i get a free health check (including vo2max estimate) every year as a company benefit, to buy it'd be 700-800 quid, it's got bugger all training value

imho if you want to spend the money to improve cycling performance, you'd do better to invest in coaching

stevie63

He doesn't do the Blood testing but Sportstest.co.uk does testing within a cycling context and those that have used him have said it has really improved the effectiveness of their training.

neeb

Thanks for the tips - just thought it would be useful as I have met a few people who have discovered relatively late in life that they have some deficiency, e.g. low B12 because of a metabolic issue, sub-optimal thyroid levels, etc. Like everyone else I guess, I experience ups and downs in my fitness that aren't always easy to explain and I wonder if it correlates to something I'm not getting enough of. I take the point though that it's probably not very useful to have isolated blood tests as these won't detect trends and may miss things.

webboo

neeb wrote:

Thanks for the tips - just thought it would be useful as I have met a few people who have discovered relatively late in life that they have some deficiency, e.g. low B12 because of a metabolic issue, sub-optimal thyroid levels, etc. Like everyone else I guess, I experience ups and downs in my fitness that aren't always easy to explain and I wonder if it correlates to something I'm not getting enough of. I take the point though that it's probably not very useful to have isolated blood tests as these won't detect trends and may miss things.

Sub optimal thyroid levels are often age related any way and levels can be fine but six months later your thyroid gland has stopped working.
So it is generally is not a case of having these issues for years that these people you have met may be implying.

sungod

neeb wrote:

Thanks for the tips - just thought it would be useful as I have met a few people who have discovered relatively late in life that they have some deficiency, e.g. low B12 because of a metabolic issue, sub-optimal thyroid levels, etc. Like everyone else I guess, I experience ups and downs in my fitness that aren't always easy to explain and I wonder if it correlates to something I'm not getting enough of. I take the point though that it's probably not very useful to have isolated blood tests as these won't detect trends and may miss things.

i read about this i the paper, there is a copy online too...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/heal ... lping.html

earlier they had...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/heal ... lping.html

...which makes interesting reading

if you feel you have consistent/repeating issues without apparent cause, i would start with a doctor or maybe nutritionist/physiologist

imposter2.0

neeb wrote:

I experience ups and downs in my fitness that aren't always easy to explain and I wonder if it correlates to something I'm not getting enough of.

Consistent training?

neeb

Imposter wrote:

neeb wrote:

I experience ups and downs in my fitness that aren't always easy to explain and I wonder if it correlates to something I'm not getting enough of.

Consistent training?

Ha ha, possibly sometimes..

Sometimes I have to take a week off due to work, travelling or other commitments and the effects of that (and how I compensate for it before and after) can be unpredictable.

nicklong

Speak to your GP.

I did this for exactly the same reasons, and had a really good discussion; he was very supportive of taking blood and ECG measurements so that if I did develop any condition I had a 'healthy' baseline to compare against on record, on the basis that athletes' normal ranges were very different to the average person (e.g. resting heart rates, heart rhythms etc). It was free of charge - I justified it on the basis that someone who regularly exercises is going to save the state a lot more money in the long run, an ECG was an investment.

A friend was a super strong cyclist well into his late 50s then suddenly developed heart arrhythmia; the doctors found his years of Garmin-sourced heart rate data invaluable to working out what his correct rhythms should have looked like (he had the heart of a horse).