Most people over forty have had a blood test. Very few have had a useful one. The standard GP panel is designed to catch disease, not to measure how well you are ageing. It will tell you that you are not ill. It will not tell you that your VO2 max puts you in the bottom quartile for your age, or that your fasting insulin has been climbing for five years while your glucose stayed normal.
At eleVate, we measure a short list. Not because more data is bad, but because most of it changes nothing you would do. These are the numbers that do.
The five that matter
Two of these are measured on the floor. Three come from a blood draw. That is the whole programme for most members.
| Marker | What it tells you | Target after 40 | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| VO2 max | Cardiorespiratory fitness: the single strongest predictor of lifespan we have | Top 25% for age and sex; men >45, women >38 ml/kg/min at 40 | Every 6 months |
| Grip strength | A proxy for whole-body strength and neuromuscular health | Men >40 kg, women >25 kg; the trend matters more than the number | Every 3 months |
| ApoB | The actual count of cholesterol particles that cause arterial disease (more useful than LDL) | <80 mg/dL; <60 if there is family history | Annually |
| Fasting insulin + HbA1c | Metabolic health, years before glucose shows a problem | Insulin <6 µIU/mL; HbA1c <5.4% | Annually |
| hs-CRP | Low-grade systemic inflammation | <1.0 mg/L | Annually |
Why these and not others
VO2 max first, because the data is unambiguous. Moving from the bottom quartile to the top quartile for your age is associated with a larger reduction in mortality risk than quitting smoking. It is also trainable at any age: most members add 10 to 15% within a year of structured zone-2 and interval work.
Grip strength because it is cheap, repeatable, and tracks something you cannot see. Muscle mass peaks in your thirties and declines 3 to 8% per decade after. Strength declines faster. The members who keep it are the ones who will still be independent at eighty.
ApoB rather than LDL because it counts particles, not cargo. Two people can have the same LDL and very different risk. Most Dutch GPs do not test it by default. Ask.
Fasting insulin because it is the earliest signal. Glucose stays normal for a decade while the pancreas compensates. By the time HbA1c moves, the damage is well underway.
hs-CRP because chronic inflammation sits underneath almost everything else: cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, slow recovery. It also responds fast to sleep, training and body composition, so it is a useful check that the rest of the programme is working.
How this works at eleVate
Floor tests (VO2 max and grip) are run by our coaching team. Blood markers are drawn and analysed through our clinic partner. Every member on a coaching programme gets a baseline in the first month and a repeat at six.
The point is not the number. The point is the direction. One reading tells you where you are. Two tell you whether what you are doing is working.
The one question
If you only know one number about yourself: find out your VO2 max. Everything else follows from the conversation that starts there.
Medical note: this article is educational. Targets are general reference ranges for healthy adults and are not a substitute for advice from your own physician. Blood markers are interpreted in context by a clinician.
