Fitness & Performance Panel

CBC (recovery + anemia), CMP (organ stress from training), Iron Panel (iron, TIBC + ferritin — critical for endurance), Testosterone Total (recovery hormone), Cortisol AM (stress hormone), Vitamin D, Magnesium, and Creatine Kinase (muscle damage marker). About 25 individual biomarkers.

Iron deficiency (especially female athletes — Ferritin <50 ng/mL impairs performance), Vitamin D deficiency, Testosterone suppression (functional hypogonadism from chronic overtraining), and elevated cortisol with low T (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, REDs).

Testosterone/cortisol ratio is a classic marker of anabolic vs catabolic state. Chronically elevated cortisol with suppressed testosterone is the signature of overtraining and inadequate recovery. A T/C ratio falling >30% from baseline is a strong overtraining signal.

Men's/Women's Health Panels are annual checkups. Fitness Panel adds athlete-specific markers: cortisol (recovery), creatine kinase (muscle damage), magnesium (cramps + performance), and a full iron panel (endurance-critical iron status). For athletes, this panel is more diagnostically useful than the standard annual.

On TestWell, the Fitness Performance Panel is $119.99. Ordering the same tests separately would be about $180. Quest Direct lists comparable bundles at $285, walk-in hospital labs typically bill $700-1000 for the same biomarkers without insurance.

Yes — 9-12 hour fast (water only). Also avoid intense exercise for 48 hours before the draw — recent training spikes CK (creatine kinase) and cortisol, making results uninterpretable. Test during a recovery week or rest day for the cleanest baseline.

Every 3-6 months during active training cycles. Quarterly is ideal for serious athletes — catches overtraining and nutritional drift before performance declines. Test more frequently (every 6-8 weeks) when correcting an identified deficiency.

Fitness & Performance Panel results are typically ready in 2–5 business days after your draw at Quest or Labcorp. TestWell emails you the moment they post, and your results dashboard shows each marker against its reference range with a plain-English explanation.

Exercise, common medications and recent blood donation can change a Fitness & Performance Panel result without anything being wrong. Exercise can raise Creatine Kinase and ALT and 3 more markers on this test — no strenuous exercise for 48–72 hours before a CK. Common medications can raise ALT and Glucose and can lower Total Testosterone, Magnesium and Cortisol — continue; report muscle pain to the prescriber. Recent blood donation can lower RBC, Ferritin and Iron and can raise TIBC — wait 6–8 weeks after a whole-blood donation for an anemia baseline. Each factor is covered on our physician-reviewed "Before your test" pages; when one applies, the fix is usually to remove it and retest.

Order the Fitness & Performance Panel online from TestWell for $119.99 (plus a $6 per-order lab processing fee) — no doctor's visit, referral or insurance needed. A licensed physician authorizes the order, then you walk into any Quest or Labcorp patient service center near you for the draw (the lab locator on our site lists the closest ones by ZIP code), and results arrive in 2–5 business days.