Physiology and Labs

“Normal” Labs Don’t Mean “Optimal” Health

Most people are told the same thing after getting bloodwork done.

“Everything looks normal.”

And for a lot of people, that’s where the conversation ends.

But what I see all the time is someone who has “normal” labs on paper and still doesn’t
feel good. Energy is low, recovery isn’t where it should be, hormones feel off, and
performance is flat. 

So the question becomes - if everything is normal, why do you still feel that way?

The answer is that normal doesn’t always mean optimal.

Lab ranges are built off population averages. They are designed to identify disease, not
to define what optimal health or performance looks like. That means you can fall within
that range and still be trending in a direction that doesn’t support how you want to feel
or perform.

This is where context starts to matter.

Looking at a single marker in isolation doesn’t tell you much. You have to understand
how markers relate to each other and what they represent from a physiological
standpoint.

For example, I’ll see someone with a fasting glucose in the “normal” range, maybe in
the 90s, and they’re told everything looks fine. But when you look at their lifestyle, high
training stress, poor recovery, maybe under-fueling, that number starts to mean
something different. It can reflect stress physiology and cortisol influence, not just blood
sugar control.

Or someone with an A1C that technically falls within range, but they’re feeling fatigued,
not recovering well, and their nutrition isn’t consistent. The reference range can let
someone be “normal” all the way up until they are prediabetic. That marker alone
doesn’t tell the full story, but in context, it can point to how the body is managing stress
and energy over time.

The same thing shows up on a CBC or CMP.

You might see a BUN to creatinine ratio that’s slightly elevated and get brushed off
because it’s “not out of range.” But in an active person, that can reflect chronic low level
dehydration, poor amino acid utilization, poor muscle recovery, or just not enough fluid
and electrolyte intake relative to output.

Or liver enzymes that are still considered normal, but slightly elevated compared to
where that person typically sits. In a high performer, that could be related to training
load, recovery capacity, or overall stress on the system, not necessarily liver
dysfunction, but still something worth paying attention to.

Even something like CO2 on a CMP, if it’s trending lower, can reflect a more acidic
internal environment, which can be influenced by stress, breathing patterns, and overall
metabolic demand.

Individually, none of these markers are alarming. But together, they start to tell a story.

This is especially important for active individuals. The demands you’re placing on your
body are not average, so interpreting your labs through an average lens doesn’t always
make sense. Training volume, intensity, recovery, sleep, and nutrition all influence what
those numbers look like.

There’s also a timing component. Labs are just a snapshot. They show you what’s
happening at a single point in time, not the full story. If you catch things early, you can
often see subtle shifts before they turn into bigger issues. But if you’re only being told
whether something is normal or not, those early signs are easy to miss.

This is why understanding your physiology matters.

It’s not about chasing perfect numbers or trying to optimize every single marker. It’s
about understanding what your body is telling you and using that information in context
with how you feel, how you’re performing, and what your goals are.

When you start to look at labs this way, they become a tool. Not something you’re
judged by, but something that helps guide decisions around training, nutrition, recovery,
and overall health.

Because at the end of the day, the goal isn’t just to be “normal.”

The goal is to function well, perform well, and feel like your body is working with you, not
against you.

At PRSU, our goal is simple - to bridge the gap between performance and long-term
health by helping you understand the full story of what your body is actually telling you
about YOUR physiology, not just what falls within a reference range.