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What Does a DEXA Scan Tell You?

DEXA scan body composition

May 16, 2025

Written By Brianna Hickey

Brianna is a senior personal trainer with more than 10 years experience, and recently qualified nutritionist at Lift Inner West. With a passion for wellness and a wealth of knowledge in both fitness, strength training and nutrition her focus is on creating good food habits to help fuel better training and better longer lives.

Nutrition | Older Adults

Wondering what does a DEXA scan tell you? When it comes to understanding your body, weight alone doesn’t give the full picture.
A DEXA scan for body composition offers detailed, reliable insights, measuring fat mass, muscle mass and bone density with clinical precision.
Unlike traditional scales or BMI, it shows you what’s happening under the surface. Whether your goal is to build strength, improve health markers or simply understand your body better, this scan gives you the information you need to make smarter choices.

Why Choose a DEXA Scan?

A DEXA scan breaks your body down into three key components: fat, lean muscle, and bone.
It’s one of the most accurate tools available to assess body composition and track change over time, especially if you’re training for strength, adjusting your diet, or managing your health proactively.
What does a DEXA scan tell you? It tells you whether your hard work is making an internal shift, even if the scale isn’t moving.

Precision Insights for Smarter Nutrition

Beyond fat and muscle, DEXA scans also provide data on:

  • Visceral fat (the kind stored around your organs)

  • Resting metabolic rate (RMR)

  • Regional fat and lean mass balance

These numbers help move your nutrition from guesswork to evidence.

  • Low lean mass? You may need more dietary protein.

  • Reduced bone density? Time to support with calcium or vitamin D.
    This is about clarity, not perfection—so you can adjust your plan with purpose.

Health Beyond Appearance

Visceral fat is one of the clearest indicators of long-term health, but it’s not something you can see in the mirror.
A DEXA scan can flag early risks related to heart health, insulin resistance, or other metabolic issues, giving you time to make small, effective changes.
According to Harvard Health, excess visceral fat is directly linked to increased risk of chronic disease. A DEXA scan helps make the invisible visible.

How DEXA Compares to Other Methods

DEXA Scan

  • Measures fat mass, lean muscle, and bone density
  • Breaks data down by specific regions of the body
  • Highly accurate and consistent
  • Requires access to medical-grade equipment

BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis)

  • Uses a small electrical current to estimate body composition
  • Common in devices like InBody, Evolt, Tanita and BodyPod
  • Convenient, but results can vary depending on hydration and time of day

Skinfold Callipers

  • Measures fat just under the skin at a few key point
  • Quick and low-cost
  • Accuracy depends heavily on technique and consistency of the tester

Bod Pod

  • Uses air displacement to estimate fat mass
  • Generally accurate
  • Less accessible and results can be affected by clothing and environment
So, what does a DEXA scan tell you? It tells you what’s really going on beneath the surface.

It shows you progress that can’t be measured by a scale or mirror, and it gives you the clarity to move forward with confidence.
Whether you’re training for performance, improving your health, or simply curious about your body, a DEXA scan is a powerful step towards informed, sustainable results.

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