ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the rationale for blood sampling in health, sport, and exercise science. Tests for health-related biomarkers such as blood glucose levels, sub-fractions of cholesterol or triglycerides are routinely undertaken using point-of-care testing as part of health assessment. The chapter identifies the relevant anatomy for blood sampling. It describes the procedures of blood sampling commonly used. The chapter identifies the range of biomarkers commonly measured. Baseline measures are also important when quantifying intervention-induced or time-related alterations in biomarkers. Biomarkers of interest often relate to the metabolic activity of long-duration work and oxygen flux from the atmosphere to the mitochondria. This involves many physiological systems and biochemical pathways down to the level of the electron transport chain. Associations are often made between biochemical markers and acute changes in exercise intensity and duration, during the recovery period, as well as over the longer term to investigate chronic adaptations.
