DEXA Total-Body Composition

THE SCALE TELLS YOU WHAT YOU WEIGH. DEXA SHOWS WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF.

DEXA provides a detailed view of fat, lean tissue and bone—revealing changes that weight and BMI cannot see.

Two people can have the same weight and completely different amounts of muscle, visceral fat and bone mineral. A DEXA total-body composition scan provides objective measurements that can guide your fitness, nutrition, weight-management and healthy-aging strategy.

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WHAT IS A DEXA SCAN?

DEXA—also written DXA—stands for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The scan uses two low-energy X-ray beams to differentiate among:

• Bone mineral

• Lean soft tissue

• Fat tissue

You lie comfortably on an open table while the scanning arm passes over your body. The procedure is noninvasive, painless and typically completed within minutes.

SEE BEYOND WEIGHT AND BMI

Body weight cannot tell you whether a change came from muscle, fat, water or bone. BMI uses only height and weight and cannot distinguish muscle from fat.

DEXA can provide a more complete picture, including:

Total Body-Fat Percentage

The percentage of your measured body mass represented by fat tissue.

Regional Fat Distribution

How fat is distributed among your arms, legs and trunk.

Estimated Visceral Fat

An estimate of fat located deep within the abdomen around the internal organs. Visceral fat is different from the subcutaneous fat located beneath the skin.

Total and Regional Lean Mass

The distribution of lean soft tissue throughout the body, including comparisons between the arms, legs and trunk.

DEXA measures lean soft tissue rather than skeletal muscle directly, but it provides a valuable clinical estimate for tracking muscle-related changes.

Appendicular Lean Mass

The combined lean mass of the arms and legs—a measurement commonly used when evaluating muscle preservation and age-related loss of lean tissue.

Left-to-Right Symmetry

Regional measurements may reveal differences between your right and left sides that can help inform individualized training.

Total-Body Bone Mineral Content and Density

An overall measurement of bone mineral throughout the body.

MUSCLE IS LONGEVITY TISSUE

Muscle supports far more than appearance or athletic performance. Maintaining adequate lean mass is important for:

• Strength

• Mobility

• Glucose regulation

• Metabolic health

• Balance

• Bone loading

• Resilience during illness

• Independence with aging

Beginning in midlife, muscle can gradually decline unless it is deliberately protected through resistance training, adequate protein, recovery and appropriate medical care.

DEXA allows us to establish a baseline and monitor whether your program is building, preserving or losing lean tissue.

VISCERAL FAT: THE FAT THE MIRROR CANNOT SEE

Not all body fat carries the same implications.

Subcutaneous fat is stored beneath the skin. Visceral fat is located deeper in the abdomen around internal organs and is more strongly associated with adverse cardiometabolic risk.

A person can appear lean while carrying more visceral fat than expected. Conversely, a higher body weight does not necessarily mean poor body composition.

DEXA helps move the conversation beyond appearance and toward measurable health.

WHAT ABOUT BONE DENSITY?

A total-body DEXA scan provides measurements of total-body bone mineral content and density. These findings may help identify a reason to pursue more focused medical evaluation.

However, a total-body composition scan is not automatically equivalent to a diagnostic osteoporosis study.

Formal osteoporosis evaluation generally uses dedicated measurements of clinically relevant sites such as the lumbar spine and hip, interpreted with appropriate T-scores or Z-scores. If your history or results suggest increased fracture risk, we may recommend a diagnostic bone-density study or specialist evaluation.

WHO SHOULD CONSIDER DEXA?

DEXA total-body composition may be useful for:

• Adults focused on longevity

• Adults over age 40

• People beginning a fitness program

• People using medical weight-management treatment

• People losing significant amounts of weight

• Athletes monitoring performance goals

• Adults concerned about muscle loss

• Women during and after menopause

• People tracking visceral fat

• Anyone who wants a more meaningful baseline than weight or BMI

DEXA + MEDICAL WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

Successful weight loss should not be measured by pounds alone.

When weight decreases, the goal is generally to reduce excess fat while preserving as much lean tissue as possible. DEXA helps us evaluate whether a nutrition, exercise or medical weight-management program is producing the desired change.

It can answer questions such as:

• How much of the weight lost was fat?

• Was lean tissue preserved?

• Did visceral fat change?

• Should protein intake or resistance training be adjusted?

• Is the program changing body composition even when weight plateaus?

DEXA + LIVING STRONG

Your DEXA results can help the Living Strong team build a more precise exercise strategy around:

• Muscle preservation

• Strength development

• Regional asymmetry

• Visceral-fat reduction

• Bone-loading exercise

• Healthy aging

• Athletic performance

MEASURE. TRAIN. REASSESS.

[EXPLORE LIVING STRONG]

WHAT TO EXPECT

1. We confirm that the scan is appropriate for you.

2. You remove metal objects that could interfere with the image.

3. You lie still on an open scanning table.

4. A low-dose scanning arm passes over your body.

5. Your body-composition report is generated.

6. Your results are reviewed in the context of your goals.

For the most meaningful comparison, follow-up scans should generally be completed on the same machine under similar conditions.

HOW TO PREPARE

• Wear comfortable clothing without metal when possible

• Remove jewelry and other metal objects

• Avoid unusually strenuous exercise immediately beforehand

• Follow any food, hydration or medication instructions provided

• Tell us if you recently had imaging with contrast or a nuclear-medicine study

• Tell us if there is any possibility you are pregnant

Pregnancy is a contraindication to DEXA body-composition testing. International Society for Clinical Densitometry

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is DEXA better than a body-fat scale?

DEXA differentiates bone, lean tissue and fat using low-dose imaging. Bioimpedance scales estimate body composition and can be substantially influenced by hydration, food intake and other variables.

Does DEXA measure muscle?

DEXA measures lean soft tissue, not muscle tissue directly. Regional and appendicular lean-mass measurements are commonly used to assess and monitor muscle-related changes.

Is there radiation?

Yes, DEXA uses a low dose of ionizing radiation. The test should still be performed only when appropriate.

How often should I repeat the scan?

The appropriate interval depends on your goals and the expected rate of change. Repeating the scan too soon may capture normal measurement variation rather than meaningful progress.

Can this diagnose osteoporosis?

Not necessarily. A total-body composition scan is not a substitute for a dedicated diagnostic hip-and-spine bone-density examination.

KNOW WHAT IS CHANGING—NOT JUST WHAT YOU WEIGH

Measure your muscle. Understand your fat distribution. Establish a bone and body-composition baseline you can follow over time.

[BOOK YOUR DEXA SCAN]

DEXA total-body composition is not a standalone diagnosis of obesity, sarcopenia or osteoporosis. Results must be interpreted in context. The scan uses low-dose ionizing radiation and is not performed during pregnancy. Individual measurements may vary with equipment, positioning, hydration and testing conditions.