Blood test can find out fitness

A BLOOD test can determine how fit people are, a new study has found.

Samples taken after intense exercise measure aerobic fitness in far more detail than traditional assessments. The test picks up the body’s molecular response to exercise and experts hope they can be used as a quick and easy way to assess fitness levels.

Scientists at Stanford University made the discovery while studying hundreds of thousands of measurements taken from people before and after exercising.

They found those who were most physically fit shared similar molecular signatures in their blood samples taken before intense exercise.

Study author Dr Kévin Contrepois said: “It gave us the idea that we could develop a test to predict someone’s level of fitness. Aerobic fitness is one of the best measures of longevity, so a simple blood test that can provide that information would be valuable to personal health monitoring.”

However, the authors said the molecular profiling done in their study was so thorough that it would not be practical or cost-effective to use in surgeries. But they are working on whittling down the biomarkers to those that are most representative of a person’s fitness level in order to make the test practical for broader use.