Innovative, attentive, and effective. Dr Christian knows how to look at the big picture. He is compassionate and understanding and focused on helping you achieve your goals. You never feel rushed and always feel heard. He is truly one of a kind and I would highly recommend him.
For athletes
Medicine for athletes who have already done the work.
Physician-led performance medicine in Philadelphia.
The blood work your team physical skips, hormone and recovery protocols built around your season, and a physician who understands that a plateau is a medical question before it is a training one.
Triathlete? Start here- Dual board-certified
- Johns Hopkins · Harvard · MIT Sloan
- 20+ years in practice
- Philadelphia, PA
Is this you?
If this sounds like you, keep reading.
You train more than ten hours a week with a structured plan, and you have plateaued anyway.
You track pace, power or splits, not just effort.
You have asked about ferritin, vitamin D or testosterone and got a shrug.
You have had a sports physical and want deeper diagnostic work.
You compete in sanctioned events. Tell us, so compliance is part of the plan from the first visit.
Asare B. Christian, MD, MPH
Founder, Aether Medicine · Philadelphia, PA
Why patients, athletes and clinicians seek him out
One of the most sought-after longevity physicians in the country.
Dr. Asare B. Christian is one of the few physicians in the nation holding simultaneous board certifications in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine. Twenty years of clinical practice, training at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and MIT Sloan, and a practice built around one idea: measure what predicts the next twenty years, then act on it.
- Dual board-certified
- PM&R and Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine, held together by few physicians nationally
- Johns Hopkins · Harvard · MIT Sloan
- Residency, fellowship and MPH, and AI in healthcare at Sloan
- 20+ years
- Of clinical practice across rehabilitation, pain, metabolic and longevity medicine
- National speaker
- Regular presenter at A4M and AAPM&R; instructor at Rupa University
- Physician-led TPE
- One of few practices in the region offering therapeutic plasma exchange under a board-certified physician
- Referred by clinicians
- Physical therapists, dietitians and physicians send him the patients they cannot solve
“As a physical therapist, I often refer patients to physicians to collaborate, and my number one answer is Dr. Christian at Aether Medicine. The time, care and determination he shows his patients is uncanny.”
The athlete panel
What we look at that a sports physical does not.
A pre-participation physical clears you to compete. It does not look for the reason adaptation stopped. These are the measures we start with, and why they matter to someone carrying real training load.
| Measure | What it tells us | Why athletes in particular |
|---|---|---|
| Ferritin, iron, full blood count | Iron stores and oxygen-carrying capacity | Endurance training and sweat deplete iron; low ferritin with a normal hemoglobin is a common, missed cause of fading performance |
| Vitamin D | Bone, muscle and immune function | Indoor seasons lower it; deficiency travels with stress fractures and illness days |
| Thyroid with free hormones | Metabolic rate and recovery | Heavy load and under-fueling lower free T3 while TSH stays in range |
| Testosterone, estradiol, cortisol | Anabolic and stress hormone balance | Energy deficiency suppresses the reproductive axis in both sexes; the cortisol-to-testosterone ratio is a classic overreaching signal |
| hs-CRP, creatine kinase | Inflammation and muscle damage | Separates normal training stress from something that is not resolving |
| DEXA body composition | Lean mass, fat mass, bone density | Sets a real target for strength work and flags low bone density early |
Built around your season, not around an injury
Testing and consultation under one roof
Recovery and regenerative options when recovery is the limit
What to expect
How a season with us runs
- 1 of 4
Off-season baseline
The full panel, body composition, and a review of last season's data and where it stalled. The time to correct a deficiency is before load rises.
- 2 of 4
Pre-season check
Re-test what was low. Confirm the correction took before the work begins.
- 3 of 4
In-season monitoring
Wearable trends read monthly against the plan; a short panel mid-season if the trend or the performance says so.
- 4 of 4
Post-season
Recovery assessment, injuries reviewed, next year's baseline scheduled.
Aether Medicine · White paper
The Plateau Is a Medical Question
Performance blood work for athletes who have already done the work.
Asare B. Christian, MD, MPH · 10-minute read
Read before you decide
The white paper written for you.
- Why training alone stops working
- The athlete panel, line by line
- Recovery as a measurable
- Regenerative options and where the evidence stands
- Competing under anti-doping rules
It is yours. If it did not open in a new tab:
Open “The Plateau Is a Medical Question”A special focus: triathletes
Your FTP stalled. Your ferritin is 22. Nobody checked.
Three disciplines, fifteen-hour weeks, a 5 a.m. alarm and a race calendar. The plateau that follows is almost always physiological: iron, energy availability, hormones under load, sleep. Triathlon is periodized; the medicine should be too. Correcting a deficiency takes eight to twelve weeks, so the off-season is when the important work happens and the pre-race panel is a confirmation, not a discovery.
- You are training for a 70.3 or a full, with a coach or a structured plan, and the numbers have stopped moving.
- Your long runs have slowed for no reason your training log can explain.
- You have asked your doctor about ferritin and been told your hemoglobin is fine.
- You are a woman whose cycle has changed since the volume went up, or a man whose recovery has.
- You race USADA-tested events and want a physician who builds the plan inside the rules.
Timed to your season
When we test, and why then.
| Phase | When | What we do | Why then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season baseline | November to January | The full athlete panel, DEXA body composition, VO2 max or lactate testing, a review of last season's data and where it stalled | Twelve weeks to correct iron, vitamin D or hormonal findings before the build begins |
| Base and build | February to April | Re-test what was low. Read HRV, sleep and resting heart rate against the rising load | Confirms the correction took, and catches under-fueling as volume climbs |
| Peak and race | May to September | A short panel six to eight weeks before the A-race; taper and fueling review | Late enough to reflect peak load, early enough to act |
| Post-race | The weeks after your A-race | Recovery markers, iron re-check, injuries reviewed, next year's baseline scheduled | The body's bill for the season arrives now, and next season starts here |
The Season Check
Everything on the panel, read by a physician who understands training load.
Book a Season Check- 1 of 4
The triathlete panel: ferritin and iron status, vitamin D, thyroid with free hormones, sex hormones and cortisol read against load and cycle history, inflammation, metabolic markers
- 2 of 4
DEXA for lean mass, fat mass and bone density; VO2 max or lactate threshold where it will change the plan
- 3 of 4
Thirty minutes with Dr. Christian on what the numbers mean for your build, your fueling and your race
- 4 of 4
A written plan your coach can use, and a re-test when it should have worked
Aether Medicine · Checklist
The Triathlete's Blood Panel
What to test, when in the season, and what the numbers mean. One page, printable.
Asare B. Christian, MD, MPH · One page, printable
Read before you decide
The checklist to hand any physician.
- Every test, and what it tells a triathlete
- When in the season to run each one
- The red flags that mean test now
- What to bring to the visit
It is yours. If it did not open in a new tab:
Open “The Triathlete's Blood Panel”- My hemoglobin is normal. Why would my ferritin matter?
- Ferritin is the store; hemoglobin is what is in circulation right now. Endurance athletes drain the store long before circulation drops, and performance fades in between. Many sports physicians consider a ferritin that would be "normal" for a sedentary person inadequate for someone running forty miles a week.
- How often should a triathlete test?
- Two to three times a season: a full baseline in the off-season, a re-check of anything that was low during the build, and a short panel six to eight weeks before the A-race.
- I race Ironman events that are USADA-tested. Is this a problem?
- It is a reason to work with a physician rather than a supplement shop. Tell us your events at the first visit; medications, hormone therapy and some supplements carry consequences that differ by governing body, and anything needing a Therapeutic Use Exemption is arranged in advance.
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Questions we hear
Straight answers, before the first visit.
Tell us at the first visit. Medications, hormone therapy and several supplements carry compliance consequences that differ by governing body, and some need a Therapeutic Use Exemption in advance. We build the plan inside your rules from the start.
A pre-participation physical clears you to play. It does not measure ferritin, free thyroid hormone, sex hormones under load, or energy availability, which are the usual medical reasons a trained athlete stops adapting.
Yes, if you want us to. We do not replace your coach's periodization; we give it a physiological read and tell you when the numbers say the block should change.
Nothing on the regenerative list substitutes for iron, sleep, fuel and a plan the body can absorb. Those come first because they work. We are candid about the evidence and the rules for everything else.
Telehealth Available
You do not have to live near Philadelphia to be our patient.
Hormone and metabolic care is mostly conversation, laboratory work and adjustment over time. All three travel well. Patients across Pennsylvania do this with us on video, with their blood drawn close to home.
Where this is available. Dr. Christian is licensed in Pennsylvania, so telehealth is available to patients who are in Pennsylvania at the time of the visit. If you are elsewhere, the office in the Philadelphia area sees patients in person.
- Step 1
A consult on video
Your history, your symptoms and what you want to change, with the physician rather than an intake form.
- Step 2
Labs drawn near you
We send the order to a draw site close to home. You do not travel for a blood test.
- Step 3
Results read together
We go through the panel on screen, and you leave with the plan written down rather than a portal message.
- Step 4
Follow-up on video
Re-testing and adjustments happen on the same schedule they would in the office.
Break the plateau
Find the medical reason the numbers stopped moving.
Three minutes for the assessment. One panel to know.
Tell us your sport, your training volume and where you have stalled. We will contact you within one business day.
Request a Consultation
Tell us about your health goals. We will contact you within 1 business day to schedule your consultation with Dr. Christian.
Your request has been received. We will contact you within 1 business day. For immediate questions, call 484-806-1101.