I am currently following a powerlifting program and doing around 8 hours of cardio per week (75 minutes vigorous, 240 minutes Zone 2, the remaining in Zone 1) because I am cutting. I am starting to reduce that to about 6 hours and 30 minutes per week, since 8 hours is not sustainable for me long term, I am not adapting well to it, and I have been feeling tired all the time.
The last time I had blood tests, my CK and liver function markers were slightly elevated, and I suspect that was due to training.
Should I stop training for a couple of days before doing the tests, or should I just go ahead and take them while continuing to train?
Here are my previous results. I also recently had an ultrasound, and according to the doctor who did it, everything looked excellent:
There is indeed a chance that these lab results are being impacted by your exercise, particularly if there is a clear temporal pattern with your training.
However, we can’t advise you on whether you “need” to stop training before these tests, based on this information alone. Much of lab interpretation depends on why they’re being done, the clinical context, and the probability/suspicion for underlying disease.
So, if I had NO suspicion that a person had any liver issues to start out with (… in which case, they don’t necessarily even need the tests), then my concern would be lower, and I’d more likely be content with this explanation and move on.
However, if I was checking these tests based on particular symptoms, or if a person had excess body fat or drink too much alcohol (increasing their risk of fatty liver disease), or if they were taking a potentially liver-toxic medicine/supplement, etc., these would all change how “necessary” it is to get clear lab data that are not impacted by exercise.
The final consideration is, how essential it is for you to do this much training in the few days before the test, or whether it wouldn’t be a big deal over the longer term to schedule your lab draw after a few days of rest (which does not need to be “total rest” of course, just intense / high volume exercise).
Thank you, Baraki. I am using a low dose of statins (the minimum) and a low dose of Clomid (10 mg every other day due to low testosterone). I believe my endocrinologist is mainly monitoring me because of the statins. My BMI was 23 at the time and is currently 21. I was at the end of a bulk then. He did not flag anything as an issue at the time, I think mainly because it was the first time it came back high.
I think I will stop training for three nights since I have not discussed this with him yet, and I will talk to him about it at my next appointment to better understand any concerns.
If I do need to stop high-intensity / high-volume exercise, I was reading your article HOW DOES EXERCISE AFFECT LIVER FUNCTION TESTS. You mentioned that 7–10 days is enough for most people. Do you think I could still do the 150-minute minimum guideline of Zone 1 / Zone 2 work during that period, or should I stick to light walks (10–30 minutes) instead?