Along with regular exercise, proper nutrition, and sleep, getting lab-tested is one of the most powerful ways to protect your health during COVID-19 and beyond.

Health and wellness held the world’s collective attention in 2020 like never before. Amongst last year’s innumerable tragedies and disruptions, essential wellness and health routines were interrupted. But with the pandemic’s end finally in sight and a return to some semblance of normality looming, it’s time to get your wellness routine back on track in an informed manner. 

Should you get lab-tested during the pandemic? 

With so much attention on COVID-19, ordinary elements of many people’s wellness routines—preventive care, managing chronic health conditions, exercising, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining good sleep hygiene, for instance—have fallen by the wayside. No amount of hand washing can replace quality nutrition and staying active, however.

In conjunction with healthy lifestyle choices, regular lab testing offers an array of benefits, giving you all the tools needed to monitor and improve your health: 

1. Track fitness and health indicators. Lab testing produces a detailed, scientific picture of broad health markers indicative of overall fitness. Blood-testing for biomarkers, immune system function, aerobic capacity, and metabolic health provides you a comprehensive assessment of fitness level.

2. Catch weight gain, muscle loss, and bone density loss before they become problematic. With precise data supplied by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA or DXA scan) testing, you can stay ahead of any emerging problem areas. A DEXA scan is non-invasive, takes only a few minutes, and offers a precise accounting of your body composition: including bone density, visceral fat, and lean muscle mass.

3. Equip yourself with the data needed to make informed nutrition and lifestyle decisions. Good intentions are a great start on the path to wellness, but it won’t suffice if you don’t know what aspects of your health to target. Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) testing provides a detailed, personalized picture of your metabolic health. Armed with this data, you can adjust your nutrition, exercise, and sleep habits as needed to maximize wellness.

4. Monitor your immune health and avoid illness. Maintaining a healthy immune system is a critical element of overall wellness. Blood testing for biomarkers (which can be performed through a simple, at-home test -- no lab visit required!) provides a “snapshot” of your health, evaluates how well your organs are functioning, and identifies blood values that are out of range, allowing you to build a wellness plan tailored to your specific needs.

COVID-19 safety measures being taken at Fitnescity testing labs 

Feeling some trepidation about venturing out to a lab for testing is understandable. Fortunately, our partner labs are taking every precaution to keep clients safe while equipping them with personalized health data. 

To help you feel confident that your safety is of paramount importance to Fitnescity, we reached out to our lab testing partners to learn about their updated COVID protocols. Here’s what they had to say about their heightened cleaning, safety, and sanitation measures:

• Pre-screening every patient before admittance to the office

• Temperature checks for every patient upon entering the facility

• Requiring masks for staff and patients

• Socially distanced seating and capacity limits in accordance with CDC guidelines

• Thorough sanitation of equipment after every patient visit

How to keep healthy and fit during the pandemic 

While COVID-19 has bent virtually everything to the unfamiliar contours of life during a pandemic, the ways to stay healthy and fit remain the same. In addition to routine lab testing, here are 5 other wellness routine essentials to adhere to during the COVID-19 pandemic: 

• Exercise regularly. An active lifestyle is proven to produce numerous positive health outcomes. Working out on a regular basis regulates body weight, supports cardiovascular health, improves mood, promotes better sleep, and much more. How much exercise is enough? The WHO recommends that healthy adults get 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week.

• Eat whole foods. The more we discover about nutrition science, the more the data suggests diets rich in whole foods are superior. “Whole foods” refers to foods as near their natural state as possible. That means more fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, poultry, seafood, and meat and less processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and added sugars.

• Get sufficient sleep. Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep per night. While that’s not always possible, maintaining as regular a sleep schedule as possible is vital to wellness. Getting enough, quality sleep reduces the risk of developing chronic health conditions, boosts mood, reduces stress, and improves mental performance at work or school.

• Stay connected: Social distancing made its unfortunate debut in the popular vernacular this year due to COVID-19. However, that doesn’t have to mean living in total isolation. Feeling connected to family and friends is essential to not just your emotional health, but your overall well-being. So, however you can safely stay connected—whether that means Zoom meetings, phone calls, outdoor picnics, finding an accountability buddy to workout outdoors or remotely with—do it.

• Seek support: The past year was a slog of health concerns, isolation, lost jobs, anxiety, and jangled nerves. Seeking out support from counselors and asking for help from family and friends when you need is healthy, normal behavior, especially in stressful times. 

Operating with updated COVID-19 safety protocols, Fitnescity lab testing partners conduct DEXA scans to monitor lean muscle, and visceral fat, RMR tests to evaluate your metabolic health, and Bod Pods to assess body fat composition—all of which is pertinent data to ensuring you and your body will continue to thrive during the pandemic and beyond. 

Sources:

• https://khn.org/news/making-gyms-safer-why-the-virus-is-less-likely-to-spread-there-than-in-a-bar/

• https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/maintaining-physical-health-during-covid-19

• https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389

• https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity

• https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-a-whole-foods-diet-2241974

• https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/topics/everyday-healthy-living/mental-health-and-relationships/get-enough-sleep#panel-2

• https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200609.53823