DEXA fat scans – the answer to the bodybuilder’s prayer

23/05/2022

DEXA body scans – it’s what bodybuilders have been looking for

The DEXA body composition scanner was originally designed to measure bone density; indeed, in technical-speak, the machine is known as a densitometer. The technology later became the prized possession of sports science labs and university physiology departments because of its ability to provide accurate measurements of fat mass and lean mass, as well as bone.

Bodyscan has taken what was once the preserve of academia and research facilities and made it available to anyone looking to lose fat, gain muscle or both – that is, to move towards a healthier body composition.

The vast majority of Bodyscan’s customers are “normal’ people, looking to “get in shape”, as well as a good number who are very good at their sport and looking to improve performance, by reducing fat “ballast” and increasing muscular mass and strength.

But of course there is one ‘sport’ which is obsessive about reducing body fat as far as is super-humanly possible and that is amateur and professional bodybuilding.

Very low (sometimes unhealthily and unsustainably low) body fat is the holy grail and absolute focus of all bodybuilders. (Who wants to be a fat bodybuilder?*) Reducing body fat reveals the shape of the muscles underneath. Extremely low body fat throws muscles into stark relief so one can see their striation and look like an anatomical model of human muscle.

DEXA enables a bodybuilder to precisely track changes in body fat as it falls – gram by gram. For bodybuilders, as for anyone, drops in body fat and/or gains in lean mass are hugely motivating, and DEXA’s consistency ensures that changes are faithfully recorded.

For a bodybuilder at competition time, an accurate assessment of body composition puts a definitive stake in the ground and a target that must be at least met (and probably exceeded) at every subsequent competition. As well as low fat, bodybuilders of course strive for high muscle mass.

It’s not just bodybuilders who have to watch the levels of body fat. In a number of sports, body weight and its composition can be critical. Think about boxers and MMA fighters, who compete in ‘weight classes’ such as lightweight and middleweight; and jockeys, Formula 1 drivers and rowing coxes, who have to be as light as possible for competitive advantage. Bodyscan’s own experience of these sportspeople is that, like bodybuilders, they have low body fat but their muscle mass is at the low end of the scale.

Whether you’re an aspiring or pro bodybuilder, a boxer, jockey or cox, or just want to improve your sporting performance, take the first step and book your Baseline DEXA fat scan at Bodyscan now. We have two easy-to-reach clinics in London and you can see from what others say how valuable the scan and consultation are.

*NOTE: While bodybuilders yearn for low body fat, many amateur and wannabe bodybuilders actually carry a great deal of fat. This is caused by “dirty bulking” (intentional or otherwise), whereby a too-high surplus of calories are consumed to guarantee enough fuel to be shuttled into muscle-building. The problem with this perma-bulking is that you can’t force-feed gains. Every calorie of energy that is not converted into muscle is stored as fat. To optimise that shuttling of calories, you need a fantastic resistance programme. Download our free muscle-building guide here. To understand the fundamental differences between fat-loss and muscle-gain, watch the video below.