Performance: minerals, iron and muscle values for athletes

At a glance

Swipe the table sideways.

Who is it for?

Performance is for endurance and strength athletes who train often and want to know whether their body is keeping up with the load. Heavy sweating costs minerals. Endurance training increases iron turnover, and hard sessions put strain on your muscles. These are exactly the areas the panel covers.

Performance is an add-on package: you book it with an active NOA Core membership, it is analysed from the same blood draw as the Core panel, and it is billed yearly together with your membership. You get the interpretation in the app and in the doctor's consultation that comes with your membership.

Common reasons

These situations are good reasons to know your values:

• Your performance is dropping although you train just as much
• You recover from training more slowly than you used to
• You get muscle cramps more often
• Your iron levels are low although you eat meat regularly
• You sweat a lot, on long sessions or in summer
• You take magnesium, zinc or iron and want to know whether you need it
• You are increasing volume or intensity, for example before a race

Hard training shortly before your blood draw raises creatine kinase in particular and can shift other values too. Follow the preparation further down, so your values can be interpreted properly and compared later on. Symptoms during exercise belong with a doctor: a blood test does not replace a sports medicine examination.

What the values show

Minerals in whole blood

Zinc, selenium, copper, magnesium, manganese, sodium, potassium and calcium are measured in whole blood, which includes the share held inside your cells. Serum keeps many of these levels steady for a long time, even when the stores in your cells are already running low. The whole-blood value therefore shows more clearly how well your cells are supplied, for example after a lot of sweating. It also makes oversupply from supplements visible, which is not harmless for selenium, zinc and manganese.

Heavy metals: lead and mercury

Lead and mercury have no function in the body. Measured in whole blood, they mainly reflect your intake over the past few weeks. In Central Europe, mercury comes mostly from large predatory fish such as tuna or swordfish, and lead from sources such as old water pipes, contaminated soil or some imported supplements. A notable value is above all a reason to look for the source.

Iron utilisation and red cell production

Ferritin from the Core panel shows your iron stores, but after hard training or during an infection it can read higher than your stores really are. Soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and the ferritin index calculated from it are not affected by this and show how strongly your blood-forming cells are asking for iron. Reticulocytes, the reticulocyte production index and Ret-He show how many young red blood cells are coming through and how well they are loaded with iron.

Muscle and kidneys

Creatine kinase (CK) shows how much strain your muscles are currently under. In trained people it is often higher than in untrained people, so it is always read alongside your training. Urea is produced when protein is broken down and depends on protein intake, fluid intake and training load. The urea/creatinine ratio puts it in relation to creatinine from the Core panel.

All values

Red blood cells

Swipe the table sideways.

Iron

Swipe the table sideways.

Muscle

Swipe the table sideways.

Kidneys

Swipe the table sideways.

Minerals in whole blood

Swipe the table sideways.

All values at a glance

How to prepare

You receive the same advice by email before your appointment.

• Pause supplements. No supplements until the draw, for example biotin, iron, multivitamins or omega-3. Ideally stop biotin 2–3 days beforehand. Preparations prescribed by a doctor count as medication.
• No hard training 24–48 hours before. Intense sessions distort inflammation and muscle values (hs-CRP, CK, ferritin). A gentle walk is fine.
• No alcohol 24 hours before. It affects the liver values.
• Drink plenty of water. At least 1 litre of water the day before and in the morning. Good hydration makes the blood draw easier.
• Come fasting. Eat nothing for the last 12 hours beforehand (for glucose, insulin and blood lipids). Water is allowed and even encouraged.
• Coffee only after the draw. Even unsweetened. Only once your blood has been taken.
• Medication as usual. Take it as usual.
• Rested and relaxed. Stress and rushing shortly before can affect individual values.

How it works

1. Take out your NOA Core membership online and add the panels you want.
2. Book a morning appointment at an NOA Health Lab near you.
3. Come fasting: the blood draw takes about 15 minutes on site.
4. Your values are usually in your dashboard within 4 working days.
5. In the doctor consultation by video, you go through what matters for you.

Locations near you

Goes well with

• The base, always included

  NOA Core membership

  102 values

  Who it is for: Anyone who wants to know their health status

  €299 per year

• Optional

  Omega-3 Index

  20 values

  Who it is for: Checking your diet or omega-3 supplements

  one-off €79

• Optional

  Retest upgrade

  46 values

  Who it is for: Anyone who wants to measure what changes

  from €169 per year