Is Getting Your Bloodwork Done The Secret To An Effective Workout?

We’re almost two months into the new year, and our well-intentioned resolution to hit the gym and make 2025 the year we get into the best shape of our lives is slowly losing steam. The Reels of fit men and women sweating away at the gym with promises of getting you to your goal weight with minimal effort no longer hold appeal. Is this a case of burnout?

Should you chalk up ‘getting fit in 2025’ as another failed resolution, along with ‘learning Japanese in 30 days’ and ‘memorising all steps to Lady Gaga’s Abracadabra’? Asad Hussain, founder of Odds Fitness, believes getting back on track can be made possible with a simple blood test.

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The fitness and longevity expert claims that the secret to unlocking a workout routine that is sustainable and beneficial lies in your diagnostics. “Every single time that you get into a fitness regime or routine which is not sustainable on a longitudinal level, it's actually quite harmful because it increases systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and it accelerates ageing in your body,” says Asad.

Can Getting A Blood Test Help You Find An Effective Fitness Routine?

If you’re serious about getting fit for the long run and sustaining that lifestyle, Hussain’s way of evidence-based intervention and personalised protocols might be the way to go about it. “So you have haemoglobin in your body, right? Women tend to have lower haemoglobin, and if somebody's going below the baseline and you tell them to do a strenuous workout, it’s not going to give good results. Haemoglobin helps carry oxygen to your tissues, which generates Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is an energy transport molecule. If you have low levels of haemoglobin, then you will underperform versus somebody who is probably weaker than you but has higher levels of haemoglobin. A simple blood test can help your trainer understand this.”

Asad claims that getting your bloodwork done before setting out on your fitness journey can not only help you hyper-personalise a workout routine that would give excellent results, it can also prevent injuries and health issues in the long run.

“Something as simple as getting an endocrine evaluation can set you on the right path,” says Asad. “I've seen individuals who are overtraining and not sleeping well because of lowered levels of testosterone. In fact, women can end up skipping their period if they over-exercise. This means there’s definitely a hormone dysfunction that can be identified before you start a workout program.”

Being mindful of your body in order to lead a healthy lifestyle is a philosophy adopted by biohackers. In case you’re not in the know, biohacking is a way to make incremental changes to your body, diet and lifestyle to improve health and well-being. Some of the most common methods of biohacking include intermittent fasting and tracking and modifying your health through wearable tech. Blood testing and diagnostics are considered to be an essential part of the biohacking process as they can reveal relevant information to help people biohack effectively.

Asad agrees that this could be considered a form of biohacking, but adds, “I would call it bio-regulation rather than hacking. Hacking would mean going to extreme measures like Dave Asprey and Bryan Johnson doing red lights and lasers and pro and whatnot. By bio regulation, I mean that you regulate your systemic flaws in a way that you achieve homeostasis or equilibrium as nature has intended you to. Healthy and thriving through natural and healthy means.”

It has been made abundantly clear by experts across the world that you cannot lead a healthy life if you don’t approach fitness with a holistic mindset and sustainable lifestyle changes. Asad believes it extends to your mind, too.

The longevity expert stresses the importance of psychology-based interventions for fitness, especially for brides and grooms who want to get fit in the run-up to their wedding and have fixed a timeline for themselves to achieve these results. “If someone is just going to lose weight to look good on the wedding day,  in all likelihood they'll gain it back again and it will be harder to get back in shape,” says Asad, adding that in such cases it’s important to get to the root of the issue. “We always ask the question, what has prevented you from being in good shape to begin with?”

If you’re a bride or groom (or serial wedding attendee) looking to get in shape in time for the wedding season, remember that the first step of the journey will begin with taking a look inward. Literally!