DEXA scans are blowing up — do regular lifters actually need one, or is a scale enough?
I've been lifting 4x a week for about a year and my scale hasn't moved in months — but I look different, so who knows what's fat vs muscle. Now DEXA scans are everywhere: ~201K searches a month, up 49% year over year. The clinic near me charges $95. My question: does a one-time baseline actually change what I'd DO, or is it just an expensive number? My smart scale swings 4-5% body fat day to day, so it's useless for trends. Has anyone done one and had it change their training or diet, or did you just file the printout away?
1 answer
- One baseline DEXA, then stop
Get exactly one, then stop paying for repeats. Impedance scales are noisy day-to-day but fine for direction; a single DEXA calibrates your actual lean-mass baseline so you know what you're defending. After that, repeat scans add almost nothing — hydration and day-to-day variance (±2-3% body fat) swamp real change on a 3-month cycle. Checkable test: ask the clinic for their same-machine repeatability figure before you pay. If they can't quote it, walk away, because that's what tells you whether a second scan would even detect change.