It may be safe to say that many of us wake up each day thinking about how we can improve how we look, feel, and perform on a day to day basis. For many of our members, this is why they started CrossFit! The truth is, there is a lot of factors that play into our overall health aside from the one hour we spend in CrossFit class each day.

As your coaches at CrossFit Des Plaines, we strongly believe in being able to teach you healthier habits through fitness and nutrition; we also look to equip you with knowledge and resources to do so, when we aren’t able to do so all on our own.

This is where your coaches have taken a look into InsideTracker. InsideTracker is a program that uses your blood work to analyze genetics in addition to your reported lifestyle and nutrition habits in order to help you optimize your health with evidence-based solutions. Whether you are a professional, parent, athlete, or a little bit of all of the above, the InsideTracker analyses can help you create an action plan based on your blood work results.

Here’s how it works:

1. Choose a plan. This plan will determine the biomarkers that InsideTracker will analyze in order to create an action plan for your primary goal. Some goals can vary from: improving general health, improving performance, strength and recovery, increasing endurance, or the ultimate plan which includes 42 total biomarkers. Click the link and read the FAQ about plan descriptions.
2. Schedule a time to get your blood drawn at a local lab. Not to worry–there are plenty in the area around you! Just bring your printed lab slip so that the lab attendants know where they are sending the blood work to. It takes about 15-20 minutes with an appointment.
3. Enter in your personal lifestyle information from sleeping patterns, to eating and exercise habits. This will help InsideTracker create a more personalized action plan for you once your blood work has been analyzed.
4. View your results and action plan. You will receive an e-mail from InsideTracker that gives you some action steps that you can start implementing as soon as that same day. Logging into a desktop or laptop or downloading the app online can also give you the breakdown of your biomarkers into three categories: optimized, needs work, at risk. Sample results of biomarker breakdown and specific biomarker (cortisol) analysis below:
   
   
5. Optional: Meet with coaches to discuss results, seek out guidance with action steps (specifically for exercise or nutrition), and in 3+ months, re-test to see what is working!

IF you are interested in learning more about InsideTracker and the benefits of having the blood work analysis completed, and/or receiving the breakdown of the results, feel free to reach out to your coaches! It’s never too late to act on improving our lives starting with today. Who else is ready to look, feel and perform better?