WHAT?
Extreme, lingering fatigue, reduced sports performance, very frustrating. You already did a lot of tests, but no clear answer? The Toptest, a combination of a double maximum exercise test with the determination of stress hormones and psychological parameters, can help solve the riddle.
A maximum exercise test is a stressful task for your body. To cope with it, your body will show several physical and psychological reactions. Those reactions show a different pattern in athletes in normal training condition (functional overreaching or FO), overloaded (non-functional overreaching or NFO) or overtrained (overtraining (syndrome) or OT(S)).
Quasi everyone, even an overtrained athlete, responds pretty well to a single exercise test, athletes in NFO and OT, however, do not digest as well a second exercise test on the same day. we see an abnormal pattern emerging on both psychological tests (POMS, profile of Mood States) and hormonal responses (cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone, prolactin, growth hormone).
The combination of your story, the clinical examination, the general lab and the results of the double maximum exercise test, supplemented by the sports psychologist's report, allows us to give advice on your training condition and to link a recovery-oriented message to it.
APPOINTMENT?
If you suspect that you are in a situation of NFO or OT, contact us via the contact form at the bottom of this page. You will give a brief report of your sporting situation, in mutual agreement it will be decided whether you will first visit for a regular consultation or immediately make an appointment for a Toptest.
PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION TEST
- No heavy physical exercise from 3 days before the test
- No alcohol or caffeinated drinks from 12 hours before the test
- If you are coming from a little further away, it is best to book a room in a nearby hotel. If you need help with this, please let us know.
- Start at 8 am, sober (do not drink food for 8 hours), at the Blitslab, U-residence, 1st floor - call 111.
- Sportswear for two exercise tests, shower equipment.Bicycle test on ergometer or your own bike (bring frame only) or walking test
- Total duration: about 6 hours
- Cost: €500 (VAT included) + cost of blood tests, billed by lab (approx €180)
TIMING
8.00: registration, placing catheter for fasting blood collection, fasting blood collection
8.15: breakfast, standardised (inform in advance of any intolerances/allergies)
8.30: sports medical examination, resting electrocardiogram
9.00: test 1: complete POMS, blood sampling, exercise test, blood sampling, POMS
10-13: rest, conversation with sports psychologist
12.00: lunch, standardised
13.00: test 2: complete POMS, blood sampling, exercise test, blood sampling, POMS
14.00: end
Reporting is done within 10 to 14 days by mail, additional consultation if required.