Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest names in human health, will soon be offering new services to the athletic community. Blueprint for Athletes, a product offering from Quest, will launch in early 2016 and focus solely on helping to increase athletic performance and improve overall health. Utilizing the same technology that has made Quest the primary diagnostic information services provider for 30% of American adults, Blueprint “gives amateur, professional, and tactical athletes insight to health markers,” according to executive director Richard Schwabacher.
Blueprint for Athletes testing is actionable health information. Based on medical-grade testing, Blueprint for Athletes provides amateur and professional athletes with insights into dozens of health markers that can be used to help provide meaningful training advantages, leverage analytics to assist in maximizing race-day performance, and help reduce vulnerability to injuries. Blueprint for Athletes is not just any diagnostic test – it has been specially created and designed to benefit athletes to provide in-depth information to the competitor in the context of sports and athletics by some of the top experts in athletic sciences.
Prior to the upcoming launch, Blueprint has been beta testing with a diverse set of athletes – including the NFL New York Giants. Beginning at the Giants’ training camp in 2013, Blueprint worked with the team to address dietary nutrition. An assessment of food allergens and sensitivity was taken at the individual level, and results were discussed amongst Blueprint providers and Giants’ training staff to put together a food prevalence recommendation for the team. This recommendation led to conversations with and decisions by the nutrition staff to remove certain ingredients from the menu.
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Mr. Schwabacher said this was a “culture change” for the Giants, “it enabled nutritionists, athletes and coaches to have a conversation about what they’re fueling with at the facilities and home.” Analyzing how food allergens and sensitivities can affect an individual’s body and consequently, performance, is just one measure in which athletes can enhance their performance.
Blueprint also partners closely with the WNBA’s New York Liberty and star forward/guard Essence Carson. Mr. Schwabacher commented that the “New York Liberty athletes exemplify the type of competitor that benefits most from Blueprint for Athletes: high-performing, driven and focused individuals who are committed to reaching their full potential. In working with the women of the Liberty, we’re helping these outstanding athletes compete at the highest level for female basketball players.”
Blueprint is not just for professional athletes though, and has been involved heavily with Ironman athletes for the past several months. The driven, obsessive, enthusiastic and energetic qualities that are often inherent in Ironman athletes are similar to what has drawn them to using Blueprint.
According to Mr. Schwabacher, “many triathletes used Blueprint for Athletes to help baseline their health after an event and to train for the next one.” Just as important for professional sports teams, recovery is the leading concern for Ironman athletes said Mr. Schwabacher. In Blueprint reports, athletes can contemplate modifications to their training regimen and recovery modalities to support improved performance.
Mr. Schwabacher likens the Blueprint provider to athlete relationship as “pulling back a layer of the onion to what works best for the athlete.” Based on performance markers, athletes can learn what it is they can “modify or tweak to help them achieve a higher level of performance,” according to Mr. Schwabacher.
When Blueprint for Athletes launches fully in just a few months, it will be available to athletes at the individual, amateur and professional levels as well as to teams. The approach that Blueprint is taking in this product offering is designed “to fit the ability to customize how each individual wants to use the program,” according to Mr. Schwabacher. Blueprint will be housed and accessed on Quest’s patient portal via Blueprint’s website. Athletes will receive reports with personalized test results from Quest that includes a breakdown of each marker and a sports science application of the marker.
Elsewhere on the web, Blueprint has enjoyed great publicity from athletes who have been able to test Blueprint and subsequently become “ambassadors for the product,” says Mr. Schwabacher. He also talked about the interaction between athletes who have used Blueprint across all disciplines. “Endurance athletes can discuss speed with power athletes and vice versa.” This type of conversation is indicative of the engagement within the athletic community Blueprint is so excited about, and what many athletes are excited about as they wait for it to become available for all in early 2016.