Bodybuilding is a sport that inspires many people to get healthy, but the topic of health has risen considerably over the last five years because of the issues competitors have faced. Part of the reason those issues are around to begin with is that there has been a lack of focus on personal health on the inside of the body, not just in how the body looks.
A foundational part of health is getting blood work done regularly. Cameron Chapman is a Senior Wellness Specialist with Transcend HRT, and he talked to Whitney Jones and Alina Popa about the importance of blood work on a recent episode of Femme Flex Friday. Chapman feels that if competitors, athletes, and people in general committed to learning more about their blood work, that a lot of potential issues could be curtailed later in life.
“We firmly believe that a lot of these things can be mitigated just by getting blood work done sooner rather than later,” said Chapman. “We can find that out really quickly and easily with blood work,” he said. “I mean, that’s a very cheap, easy thing to do.”
When asked about the age range that people should start paying more attention to their blood work, Chapman acknowledged that sooner is better, even if it as soon as early adulthood.
“I tell them that this is important to see where your baseline is, being younger, so that when we do this in years to come, and something comes up, you can refer back to ‘oh, well this is how it was when I was 20 years old.’”
Some athletes actually go and get their bloodwork done once a year, but Chapman said that while that is a good start, it isn’t optimal for competitive athletes such as bodybuilders.
“We recommend doing blood work at least three or four times a year, he explained. He offered an olive branch that he hopes will encourage others to go through the process more often. The more you know, the easier it will be to commit to.
“By the time you kind of help them understand the blood work and explain it to them, they’re almost a little more excited to see what it is next.”
This important episode covers a lot of important topics that will educate competitors and athletes of all levels. You can see this and all episodes of Femme Flex Friday every week over at www.wingsofstrength.net.
