159: The 10 Vitality Tests Every NASCAR Pro Needs Now

We lay out the 10 annual vitality tests that turn off-season into a competitive edge, from basic blood work to root-cause labs, heart scans, and biological age. The goal is simple: find what’s holding you back, fix it fast, and add years to your racing career.

• baseline blood work and why it still matters
• the big five root cause labs and what each reveals
• coronary calcium and heart risk for drivers
• low-cost lifeline screenings that catch issues early
• full-body MRI and multi-cancer blood testing
• FIT stool testing for colon cancer signals
• VO2 Max, CRF, and grip strength benchmarks
• annual physical with skin check and EKG
• biological age testing and reversing pace of aging
• how to stack tests into a clear action plan

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Mission For Peak Health
• 1:20 Off-Season Opportunity And Longevity Mindset
• 2:00 Why Annual Blood Work Still Matters
• 4:05 The Big Five Root Cause Labs
• 7:35 Heart Health Scans That Save Careers
• 9:05 Low-Cost Screenings You Can Book Now
• 10:10 Full Body MRI And Multi-Cancer Testing
• 12:00 Colon FIT And Fitness Benchmarks
• 13:10 Annual Physicals That Catch The Subtle
• 14:00 Biological Age And Racing Longevity
• 15:00 Bringing It Together And Next Steps

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:09

Hello, I'm Jeffrey Morton. If you're like most in NASCAR's top tiers, drivers, crews, owners, or executives, while you're busy chasing podiums, have you fully considered who's taking care of you? Right here, you're about to start transforming your mind and body for peak race day performance with high performance health, designed exclusively for the demands of NASCAR. As a certified high performance health coach and consulting hypnotist, I've coached elite entrepreneurs and athletes to higher energy, sharper focus, and greater resilience, naturally, safely, and backed by science. And right now, I'm bringing that same engineered approach to the best in motorsports. Here you'll find no wasted time, just a unique blend of integrative health, mental conditioning, and proven recovery strategies delivered in plain language that you can use right away. Imagine a season without burnout, brain fog, or the costly crash of your health. Because the truth is, the real race starts within. I'm grateful you're here. Welcome back to Breaking Boundaries for Champions. It's officially off season for the top tiers of NASCAR, but for many of you still running dirt, late model, or short track races, your body hasn't seen a true break in a very long time. And whether you're still on track or taking a breather, one thing is true. Now is the perfect time to evaluate your health, get ahead of hidden problems, and extend your racing career by years, not just seasons. Because the truth is this performance isn't luck, it's biology. And longevity isn't genetics, it's maintenance and environment. And today I'm giving you the 10 annual vitality tests every high-performance athlete, executive, or driver should complete during the off season. Some you can run with your primary care physician, and many we run in-house over at Victory Lane Wellness. And if you're part of our Champions Edge Crown Jewel Performance Program, we handle it all, the scheduling and everything for you, concierge. So let's get into it. Number one, annual blood work and advanced lipid profile. Now I know a lot of drivers they don't want to face the music when it comes to their health, but getting your blood work done on a regular basis, and I see this with uh with so many clients, is they just they've really felt uh dismissed by their conventional practitioners and they write them off completely. But there's value in that annual blood work. And this is your baseline chemistry panel run with your primary care physician. And at a minimum, it should include uh a CVC, which is uh a complete blood count, a CMP, which is a cardiometabolic panel, a cholesterol panel, inflammation markers, kidney and liver enzymes, fasting glucose, and triglycerides. Now, there are more involved in that, and I will do that in a separate episode on actually what to add to the menu of blood work when you go to your primary care physician, because a lot of times they'll just run some basic information and they're leaving out some key components. For instance, uh apolipoprotein B is a marker that they typically don't run, but it is super important. And so in another episode, we'll dial into that one. But why this matters, it shows what's happening right now. But remember, blood work reveals results, not root causes. It's the finish line snapshot, not the starting line story. Now, there's no referral needed to get your blood work done, just your primary care physician. Now, number two, here's where it gets good: the big five labs. This is functional medicine root cause testing. Run over at our private wellness practice, Victory Lane Wellness, through our partner Equalife, or any naturopathic doctor or integrative health practitioner level two or level three, all at home or even at the track. And this big five bundle includes the minerals and metals test. This is also known in the industry as a hair tissue mineral analysis. You've heard me talk about that before. It reveals mineral deficiencies and heavy metal toxicities. This is critical for fatigue, for focus, and recovery. Next in that big five bundle is the organic acids test. This is known as the Candida Metabolic and Vitamins Test, or the Oat in the industry. This is your internal engine diagnostic, talking about mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, detox capacity, neurotransmitters, gut overgrowth, and so much more. This is an amazing test, uh, which is a urine-based test. The first test we mentioned, the minerals and metals, is uh just uses as the name hair tissue mineral analysis might allude to, a simple hair sample. And the organic acids test is a urine-based test. Next, the omega-3 and inflammation test. This checks the omega-3 index and inflammation ratio. This is a direct predictor of heart and brain and joint health. This is done with a dried blood spot test. So just a little finger prick, a couple of drops of blood on a card, and voila, we get some amazing results as a look into your omega-3 index and inflammation ratio. Next is the IgG food sensitivity test. This is different than food allergies. This is delayed sensitivity. This test is meant to identify delayed low-grade immune triggers creating inflammation, skin issues, and gut problems, and so much more. This is a dried blood spot test as well. And then we have the stress, mood, and metabolism test. This is an amazing test. Actually, I have one right here if you're watching on video. Comes in a simple kit like this. Uh, this one is a saliva-based test and a blood spot test. We'll talk more about the saliva in just a moment. Uh, but this test looks at cortisol rhythms. This is your stress map. It also looks at hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, but through the saliva, not the blood. And that's important because hormones that are in the blood are bound to a protein and not readily available for utilization in the body. But hormones tested through saliva are bioavailable to the body at a more accurate picture of hormone levels. This test also looks at a full thyroid panel, not just TSH like your primary care physician might run. Uh TSH is not even a thyroid hormone. It's actually produced by the pituitary gland, but that's a story for another day. Uh, this lab test also looks at hemoglobin A1C. Sounds like a big word, but it's a two to three month view of your blood glucose control. And then, of course, we're looking at vitamin D3 and vitamin D2. These are beneficial for immunity, hormone production, and so much more. Now, why does this matter? Well, the Big Five Bundle tells you why your blood work looks the way it does. There's no referral needed, fully at home or even at the track. All right, number three in the vitality tests is the clearly heart analysis. This is a coronary artery calcium test, and it's a precise scan that measures plaque buildup in your arteries. And why it matters is heart disease is the number one hidden thief of performance. Drivers regularly exposed to stress, poor sleep, fumes, and inflammation should monitor heart health annually. A referral might be required depending on the facility. Number four, lifeline screening. This is a simple, low-cost set of tests available nationwide. The recommended screenings, there's four of them, uh, carotid artery ultrasound. This is for stroke risk. Very, very important. Uh abdominal, aortic, aneurysm screening, peripheral arterial disease uh disease screening, and they actually do a bone density test as well. Um, and what else do they do? They also do a uh an EEG, so a um heart, you know, looking for heart rhythms um in that as well. Very, very amazing, simple, low cost. I mean, honestly, for under$200, you can go to lifelinescreening.com and uh actually I was just looking at the website I got pulled up here uh to find my local one so that I can do that. And uh coming up in um February, I am going to have mine scheduled so I can go get mine done as well. And this matters because these tests catch structural issues before symptoms appear. Very, very simple to do. This is ultrasound technology. You don't even have to um go to a clinic. The clinic usually comes to a local place like uh a convention center and sets up shop there, and you can schedule and go there. Uh, you don't even have to take your shirt off. They do the ultrasound of the neck, uh the abdomen, and uh oftentimes the uh ankle is what they're scanning. And then for the bone density, they're usually scanning the heel of the foot. And remember, the hair tissue mineral analysis portion of the big five also monitors calcium and phosphorus, which are very supportive for bone health. We want to make sure that those minerals are staying in the bones and not being being excreted out of the hair. So for the lifeline screening, no referral needed whatsoever. Number five, this is a big one, full body MRI, or at minimum a torso MRI. You can also have just the head done. But this is a non-contrast MRI. That's the big difference. And these are done through groups like Pronovo or Simon Med 1. I have no affiliation with them, but those are the two premier ones that are out there right now. Um, this is no risky radiation, no toxic contrast eye. And why it matters is because it detects early stage tumors, cysts, organ irregularities, and uh anomalies long before symptoms ever appear. This is the perfect tool for longevity and early detection. Referral uh needs may vary by facility. And number six, the Grail test, also known as the gallery test, the G-A-L-L-E-R-I test. This is a cutting-edge blood test that screens for 50 plus types of cancer. And why it matters, drivers over 40 or with a family history of cancer benefit hugely from early detection. And a referral might be required. I always say, would you rather find out when you have stage four cancer or when it's uh pre-stage one cancer? Personally, I'd rather find out early because there's things that we can do about that, the earlier the better. Number seven, the colon cancer fit test, FIT fit test. This is a stool-based test. It detects early signs of colon cancer. Why it matters? It's fast, it's non-invasive, highly accurate, and recommended to do yearly. There's no prep, there's no sedation, and best of all, no uh colonoscopy needed whatsoever. Number eight, the VO2 Max plus a CRF test and a grip strength. You might be wondering why does that matter, grip strength, and what is a CRF test? Well, we'll talk about that. The VO2 Max, first of all, measures your maximum oxygen utilization. This is one of the top predictors of longevity. And wearable technology, such as an Apple Watch, a Garmin watch, uh, and a couple of others, will measure through a mathematical uh equation your VO2 Max, and it's a great uh predictor for longevity. The CRF test that stands for cardiorespiratory fitness, and this gives you a baseline for your um your cardiorespirator respiratory fitness. Basically, that's what it is. Um then the grip test. So surprisingly accurate predictor of overall strength, nervous system performance, and yes, even biological age. And why all this matters? Because fitness equals resilience. And resilience equals faster recovery, better focus, and a longer racing career. Number nine, an annual physical. Yeah, back to your PCP. Get that blood work done along with your annual physical, but with a skin check and an EKG if they'll do that. And this is where your primary care physician will check for things like melanoma, skin, abnormalities, of course, blood pressure, very, very important. You should be testing your blood pressure um at home on a regular basis, anyways, rather than annually. Um, and they'll also look for heart rate and heart rhythm. You can do that at home as well, or with a wearable tech. Um, and general organ function. Now, the EKG is recommended, uh, though PCPs often only run it if symptoms are present. But remember, Lifeline can also test for atrial fibrillation as well. No referral needed for the physical. And number 10, this is one of my favorite uh lab tests to run, a biological age test known as the DNA test. We run that in-house at Victory Lane Wellness. This test reveals your epigenetic age, your longevity markers, uh, MTHFR variants, which are a methylation marker uh in your genetics, ApoE genotype, so we can see your susceptibility to things like Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson's. It also looks at your biological age versus your chronological age, so we can work that biological age backwards through the clinically proven longevity protocols that we have over at Victory Lane Wellness. This lab test also looks at your detox capacity, methylation function, inflammation patterns, and so much more. And why this matters, this is the true measure of how well your body is aging internally and how fast your cells are turning over. Drivers wanting to extend their career love this test. So let's tie it all together. Here's the truth champions don't win because they have the best car, they win because they have the best internal systems firing at full capacity. The off season isn't downtime. This is health strategy time. And if you want consistency, longevity, clarity, and power behind the wheel, these 10 vitality tests are an important part of your high-performance health blueprint. And if you want a partner to guide you through the entire process, schedule for you, interpret the results, and build a personalized plan that actually works, well, that's what we do over at Victory Lane Wellness. If you're the kind of person who's ready to understand your body at the deepest level and optimize biological performance for the next season, I invite you to take your free high performance health assessment at victory lanewellness.com and you can schedule your complimentary consultation right there or in the show notes. Let's start building your edge before the next green flag and extend your legacy for years to come. Bye bye, everybody.