The measurement device I highly recommend if you have access to one is a DEXA Scan. It’s really one of the only few ways to truly measure whether you’re truly building muscle and losing fat at the same time, or just losing muscle or fat when you’re dieting.
A DEXA Scan is a painless medical imaging test that’s primarily used to measure how dense your bones are. Some facilities, however, have created a business out of using them to measure and provide the results of your body’s fat and tissue composition.
But a facility that made this modification is what you’ll have to look for. Just because a medical facility has a DEXA scanning machine, it doesn’t mean they’ll use it to measure your body fat.
But if you go to a facility that primarily serves this function, if it’s set up correctly, every time you get a scan, you’ll have a record of your full body results over time so you can objectively measure your changes.
DEXA stands for dual x-ray absorptiometry. As I said, it can differentiate between fat and muscle tissue, providing an analysis of your body composition.
The DEXA scan is the gold standard for estimating body fat, boasting an error rate as low as 1-2%. Other body fat tests may result in a 3-5% error rate even under optimal testing conditions.
And if you’re trying to get an estimate from a body weight scale that also supposedly measures body fat, or one of those handheld devices at the local gym, forget about it.
All of them have consistently given me large errors from one reading to the next, even when the readings are minutes apart. This is why I recommend the DEXA scan.
The test takes place either in a medical facility or by a sports facility who is licensed to provide the testing. The technician who administers the test must also be licensed.
The procedure is non-invasive and painless and, in total, lasts about 6 minutes, not including the immediate follow-up consultation. You just lie on your back on an x-ray table.
Once the test starts, you must remain completely still while the technician commands a computer to move a large scanning arm over your body. The test is very safe with minimal radiation exposure.
After the scan, the DEXA computer program gives you a reading of your body fat percentage, percentage of lean mass and your bone mineral content. It also gives you a regional analysis of your body fat and lean mass in five regions of your body: arms, trunk, belly, hips, and legs.
Last, it compares the right and left sides of your body to look for imbalances in muscle development due to injury or usage.
The biggest reason to get a DEXA Scan, if you can, is because it’s going to help you see what’s going on when your body weight scale doesn’t move. And it’s going to happen, especially if you’re lifting weights.
When your body adds new tissue because it’s building muscle, the weight of the new tissue can mask the weight of fat that you lose. So, it can be frustrating to think you’re not losing fat when you are.
DEXA Scans help you see when you’re gaining muscle, which is a good thing, instead of worrying that your diet isn’t working.
So, again, I highly recommend you find a facility to get a DEXA Scan if you can. Get a baseline measurement, and then try to get one every four to six weeks.
