Which tests, for which goal.
What each test measures, in plain words, and which ones make sense before a 90-day protocol. Never what a result means.
Testing
Shape
the protocol it funnels to
Before you start.
- This page explains what the common blood tests measure, in plain words, and which ones people usually ask about before a protocol for each goal.
- Nothing here is a target, a range or a verdict. A test measures a thing; a doctor who knows you reads the number.
- You leave able to ask your doctor for a panel by name, and to understand the printout when it comes back.
Why a baseline at all.
A protocol is a change. Weight, waist and a photograph show most of it, and they cost nothing. A blood panel shows what moved underneath: how the body handles sugar, what the blood carries, how the liver and kidneys are doing while a compound is in the system. Drawn once before day one and once at week twelve, at the same laboratory, it turns twelve weeks of feeling into two columns of numbers a doctor can compare in a minute.
None of this is required to start. It is the layer a careful person adds, and the layer a doctor is likely to ask for when a patient arrives with a sheet.
The metabolic tests.
HbA1c measures how much sugar has attached to the haemoglobin in red blood cells, which reflects average blood sugar over roughly the previous two to three months. Fasting glucose measures the sugar in the blood at one moment after a fast. Fasting insulin measures the hormone the pancreas releases to move that sugar into cells; together with glucose it describes how hard the body is working to keep sugar steady.
These are the tests most often discussed around the fat-loss class of compounds, because that class acts on appetite and on how the body handles fuel after eating. What a number means for you is your doctor's reading, not this page's.
The lipid tests.
A standard lipid panel measures total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides, the fats carried in the blood. ApoB measures the number of particles that carry cholesterol, rather than the amount of cholesterol they carry; some doctors ask for it because particle count and cholesterol amount can differ. Not every laboratory runs ApoB; the bloodwork page shows who publishes it.
Lipids are drawn fasted at most laboratories. They move with body composition and with diet over weeks, which is why a baseline and a retest three months apart is a useful pair.
Liver, kidney and inflammation.
ALT and AST are enzymes released by liver cells; they are the standard measure of liver stress. Creatinine is a waste product the kidneys clear, and eGFR is a rate estimated from it that describes how well the kidneys filter. CRP is a protein that rises with inflammation anywhere in the body. Lipase is a pancreatic enzyme, and it is on the list because the fat-loss class carries a pancreatitis warning on its label, which is why a history of pancreatitis removes that class from a protocol here.
These tests are the ones most doctors want to see while anything new is in the system. They are also the reason the two-column log exists: a change in a liver enzyme between baseline and retest is a conversation, and two columns make it plain.
Hormones, and the tests by goal.
TSH and free T4 describe thyroid function. IGF-1 is the growth factor the liver makes in response to growth hormone, and it is the marker most often discussed around the growth hormone axis compounds. Testosterone and estradiol are sex hormones; vitamin D and ferritin describe a vitamin and iron stores.
By goal, people here usually ask about: for shape, the metabolic and lipid tests, liver and kidney, lipase. For energy, thyroid, ferritin, vitamin D and the metabolic tests. For strength, IGF-1 and the metabolic tests. For sleep and focus, thyroid and ferritin. For recovery and skin, CRP and the standard panel. This is what people ask about; which of it you need is your doctor's call, and none of it comes with a target on this site.
How it fits your protocol.
Every protocol here has a baseline before day one and a retest at week twelve, and the Planner puts both on the calendar. Take this page to your doctor with the sheet: it lets you ask for a panel by name, and it says plainly which tests people watch around which class of compound. For the shape protocol, built on the fat-loss compound and the repair blend, that is the metabolic panel, lipids, liver and kidney function and lipase, and the doctor decides.
The bloodwork log keeps the baseline and day-90 numbers side by side in the units your laboratory printed. It does not colour a number or say what it means, for the same reason this page does not.
Shape protocols here are built on Retatrutide and KLOW Blend. Yours starts with three minutes.
Get startedQuestions
Which of these tests do I actually need?
Ask the doctor you take the sheet to. This page gives you the names and what each measures so the conversation is short; the choice is theirs, based on your history.
Will you tell me if my number is high or low?
No. Reference ranges depend on the laboratory, your sex and your age, and reading them is medicine. The bloodwork tool and this page stop at what a test measures.
Fasted or not?
Glucose, insulin and lipids are usually drawn fasted. The laboratory's page or your doctor gives the hours. Water is fine.
Why lipase?
Because the fat-loss class carries a pancreatitis warning on its label. A history of pancreatitis removes that class from a protocol here entirely, and doctors often watch the enzyme while it is in use.
What if I cannot afford the whole panel?
Weight, waist and a photograph are free and carry most of the signal. Ask your doctor which two or three tests matter most for your history and draw those.
Related
Longevity Manila builds your protocol from your answers. We are not a clinic. Fulfilment is by Primara Labs, our partner and supplier. Take it to a doctor who knows you before you begin.