Tests

My wife and I recently had a series of lab tests done for a full stack physical assessment, eg DEXA scan, VO2 max, metabolic rate, grip strength, gait analysis, 3D movement assessment. Here are the results.

We I intend to do this every year. My wife on the other hand has had enough.

VO2 max: 45.4 ml/kg/min. 76th percentile for my age and sex. I chose the treadmill but because I have bad knees, I tapped out earlier. I think I can go higher. Next time I’ll try the bike. I’ll have to get back to intense cardio once a week with indoor cycling to reach heart rate zones 4 and 5 and work all the zones. Right now with swimming I cover zones 1 and 2. Will try to avoid the zone 3 trap.

Spine bone density: Normal. Whole body BMD T-score of -0.1.

Lower body strength: Below average. My peak isometric mid-thigh pull hit 1575N which puts me in the 25th-50th percentile for men. No left-right asymmetry in the pull.

Gait symmetry (walking): Clean. G-load asymmetry of 4.09%, push-off asymmetry 2.87%, impact asymmetry 4.14%. Walking mechanics look fine.

Hip bone density: Osteopenia. This was unexpected. Femoral neck T-score of -1.1 (mean across both hips). This is atypical for my age. Could be many causes - low vit D, insufficient load bearing exercise, calcium intake, genetics etc. Have to look into this.

Body fat: 26.6% and lean mass in the 28th percentile. BMI of 26.1 makes me “overweight.” My lean mass index (lean/height²) came back at the 28th percentile and 19th for age-matched. DEXA identified 623g of estimated visceral adipose tissue. My android/gynoid ratio is 1.18 meaning fat distribution skews central. Used to hover between 20 to 22% body fat, need to get back to that at the very least.

Metabolism: 1721 kcal/day. My resting metabolic rate is 1721 kcal/day, 7% slower than peers. The Mifflin St Joer equation predicts ~1850 for my profile. This means I burn fewer calories at rest which compounds fat accumulation if I’m not careful about intake.

Running impact asymmetry: 27.9% right. This was a red flag in the report and it wasn’t unexpected. I tore my left ACL/MCL/meniscus playing sepak takraw 20 years ago (made worse by beach volleyball in Zanzibar) and did not get it fixed by surgery. So I hesitate to run or jump. When I run, my right foot absorbs more impact than my left with 28% asymmetry. That’s a load distribution imbalance that, compounded over thousands of steps, sets up injury on the right side and compensation patterns elsewhere.

Shoulder mobility: Poor on the left. Internal rotation test measured 6.5 inches left vs ideal of under 2 inches. External rotation only “fair” on both sides (51 degrees right, 66 degrees left vs ideal 80-90 degrees).

Grip strength: Below median. 380N average, peak 530N on the right. For adult males 20-50 years old, the 50th percentile is 493N. Grip strength is one of the most replicated proxies for overall musculoskeletal health and longevity. Need to do more farmer’s carry and dead hangs.

I’ve started to address most of these things - bought a Withings scale to replace my regular scale to track my weight, downloaded the MacroFactor app to track my food intake (with pictures!), and connected with an endocrinologist for the bone density.

Hopefully all of these would improve a year from now.