DEXA, Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry, is the industry gold standard for body composition testing and bone density analysis. DEXA uses low-density x-ray technology to predict the amount of fat, muscle, other soft tissue, and bone in the body.

The DEXA Body Composition analysis is a comprehensive tool that improves your health. This scan lends insight on whether your training program is helping you to increase lean mass or reduce body fat. If you have a weight loss goal, increasing lean mass can boost your resting metabolic rate. As a result, this assists by increasing the number of calories your body burns at rest. In addition, gains in strength and general fitness also accompany an increase in the amount of muscle on the body.

Body fat percentage is a great marker for progress when tracking weight loss. Weight on a scale often fluctuates significantly due to several variables including hydration status, hormone levels, time of day, etc. If you are pursuing a weight loss goal, tracking body fat percentage is an ideal way to know that you are reducing body fat and not reducing other tissues such as muscle.  

The scan takes between seven and ten minutes. It produces an image of your body highlighting muscle, fat, and bone. The report includes a table with your data in each of these categories as well as body fat percentage. Each time you complete a scan, your previous data will appear to help you visualize changes between scans and general trends in composition. This can be a great asset in understanding how your training is directly affecting your composition and guide your fitness programming to be more efficient.

The Bone Density assessment looks at three key sites that are of greater risk of fracture for individuals with osteopenia or osteoporosis—these include the spine, hips, and wrist. Age, chronic disease, genetic predisposition, previous trauma, and hormone levels can all elevate the risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis.  This type of scan uses dual x-ray beams to determine the density of the bones in these sites. In under ten minutes, the DEXA will provide a graph of each site, indicating an individual’s bone health. These scans can be taken to a physician to help officially diagnose bone density concerns and guide treatment plans.

If you are interested in finding out your body composition or bone density health, both members and non-members are welcome to schedule a scan with the PRO Medical Performance Testing team.

You can reach us by phone at (425) 861-6258 or by email at 2020frontdesk@proclub.com.

Written by: Kelsie Holtzlider, 20/20 LifeStyles Exercise Physiologist

Kelsie’s philosophy has been shaped by experiences in cardiac rehab and inpatient physical therapy settings. She believes that a holistic approach to exercise is the key to success. Kelsie develops fitness programming to build confidence and empower clients to get outside and take on new adventures. Leading by example, Kelsie utilizes her own fitness to enrich her life with hiking, mountain biking, snow-shoeing, recreational sports, and exploring national parks.