Dexa scan for body fat

[Mahalepirose]

i would love to hear from anyone who has had a Dexa scan for their body composition. I’ve been going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week for a year or so and have put on 4 or 5 pounds. I hate it even though I know it might be muscle and I thought it might be reassuring to get a Dexa once a year to monitor progress. Has anyone done that?

I know I should be able to just look in the mirror but I tend towards the dysmorphic and want something objective.

I’m looking at bodyscan in Marylebone high street.

thanks x

Boots have body fat scanners not sure how accurate they are though as they only cost £1!

I think not very! Same as those body fat scales they have in gyms

Why don’t you just get an InBody scan instead? They’re much cheaper (so you can get them more often to track your progress, and you can use their dedicated app for that) and you’re not exposing yourself to unnecessary x-rays. They’re pretty accurate and are used by some of the high end PT gyms such as Ultimate Performance and The Foundry.

None of the body scanners are accurate or reliable. However if you decide to use them, make sure you use the same one and that it’s regularly calibrated. Also, don’t use right after a work out. This way, although inaccurate, you can see a trend by a consistently used device.

@HundredMilesAnHour I haven’t heard of that but will google. Thanks

@PeloMom is that right? I understood that dexa was accurate. How annoying. I wish I could judge for myself but I have never been able to see myself accurately. It’s probably therapy I need more than a scan but I would really like to know if I have managed to improve my body composition over the year of strength training

I did one last year. I do regular (monthly) bodytrax in the gym so it was to compare to that.

The truth is you’ll have no way of knowing if the gain is muscle or fat by doing a dexa. Mine showed body fat of 25% which means I know that the bodytrax in the gym under estimated fat. I’ll probably only pay for a dexa every 5 years due to cost.

Thank you for replying. Sounds like I should save my money. How DO I tell if I’m gaining fat then? I’m menopausal and i can’t tell if I have gained muscle weight or whether my metabolism just means I can’t lose weight anymore. So depressing after working so hard in the gym

@Mahalepirose This place in London does InBody scans for £45 (you’re paying for them to explain the results to you as well as the scan itself):

https://omnialifestyle.co.uk/inbody-body-composition-analysis-omnia-london/

Once you understand how to read the scan results, you can usually get a scan done for £10-30 (depending on where). Some gyms do them for free for members (for example when I was a member at The Foundry, we had free access to the scanner so could get one whenever we wanted).

Thanks I will look into that

Take pictures and use a tape measure. They’re the best indicators. Look at this - proves the scales mean nothing. https://www.boredpanda.com/same-weight-fitness-incredible-transformations/?wvk=0&fbclid=IwQ0xDSwL7dAZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHq3pG5IkC71enCYunsZOAXz1eOedk1bilG094lblfXdt8k98oHiU0do7RvmK_aem_0DFnTbZjHjHm_Xnx3Kq5tQ

That article is amazing!

Don't pay for a one off BIA scan (in body), it’s just not accurate. I have the (cheapest) Withings scales and it’s great to have at home as you can track daily / weekly. The % might not be totally accurate but I have seen fat drop as I have lost weight so I find it very useful. The renpho one is cheaper. My gym has bodytrax but it’s not any more accurate than my at home Withings so good if free but not worth paying for. The University of Westminster has a bodypod which will tell you body fat % I think for around £50, it’s accurate but not sure worth it.

A one off dexa is not a terrible idea to see how your at home scales are doing and also to look at bone mass.

Whether you have gained muscle or fat? Ultimately how do you tightest trousers feel? If they still fit it’s muscle!! If they don’t it’s likely fat. But my Withings would show that.

I have top of the range Withings scales and they’re nowhere near accurate for body fat. In fact I’d go as far as saying that they’re complete fiction! The best you can get from them is that they’ll show if you’re trending upwards or downwards. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great scales but not if you want body fat / muscle mass %.

Does your gym not offer anything @Mahalepirose ? Even if they just use callipers and take measurements for you, and then you get measured again in 6 months. You really don’t need to spend lots of money- or indeed any money - on this.

I’ve always found InBody scans really useful (as long as you make sure you don’t distort the readings by varying hydration levels etc), especially for tracking muscle imbalances and monitoring visceral fat. But I was always fortunate enough that my scans were free (and frequent).

Agree not accurate but neither is the ones in the gym (bodytrax) - similar to in body.

The most they are useful for is showing what you are gaining or losing.

As an example last week on 31st July I did all three, a bodypod at University of Westminister (should be accurate) - 23.9%
Withings at home 20.8%
Bodytrax in gym 20.9%

On 31 July last year I did dexa and bodytrax on same day (I weighed 1kg more last year than this year) so the dexa is consistent with the bodypod. Last year I had older Withings which were total fiction so I won’t post the number.
Dexa - 25.2%
Bodytrax 19.2%

Clothing is a good measure. If your clothing is looser or at least the same but your weight is up then it’s probably muscle.

Love these. Thanks ☺️

Unless you're actually driven by the statistics, I'd just take comparison photos, judge by clothing and use a tape measure.

I've been aware for a while that the numbers on the scale mean nothing. If nothing else, my weight can seeemingly fluctuate by up to 5lb in one day. I'm not actually losing and gaining weight like that!

I had a DEXA at the Marylebone centre you’re thinking of. It was very useful to me at the time as I was running a lot and my periods had stopped despite my BMI being 21. I found out my body fat was 16% but I had a lot of muscle which is why my BMI wasn’t showing as underweight. It actually prompted me to stop running so much and put on a bit of weight so my periods returned. It was a wake up call tbh as according to BMI I could have lost another stone or so before I was considered underweight but I would have been into essential fat by then which would have been really dangerous. got quite a detailed print out from them with everything on.

I've been training seriously for several months - my shape has visibly changed and my clothes are much looser. According to my scales, I've lost a pound, so my assumption is that I've lost fat but gained muscle. I don't need a special scan to tell me that.