Every day we are fortunate to connect with people nationwide who are interested in learning more about their well-being through wellness lab testing. We thought we’d take a moment to tackle some of the questions we hear most.

Question: How accurate are body fat tests?

Answer: The assessments are all accurate when compared to themselves. What does that mean? It means that if you compare DEXA scans over time you will be able to accurately track the change in your body fat and lean mass. By utilizing not only your total body fat percentage, but also your percentile as compared to other people similar to you (age, gender, ethnicity), you can get a more complete picture of how your body composition is changing. Similarly, BOD POD, bio-electrical impedance (SECA) or hydrostatic weighing should also measured against themselves over time. Since each method utilizes a slightly different mechanism for measuring body composition the results don’t correlate.

Question: Would you recommend a BOD POD or DEXA scan?

Answer: We suggest you take some time to look into the benefits of both types of body composition assessment. While they will both offer you great insight into your total body composition they utilize different methods of measurement. Which one you choose is largely dependent on what exactly you’re looking to get out of the assessment.

And, truth be told, we can’t make recommendations one way or another - that would be like choosing our favorite child - but we did draw up a pretty cool infographic all about the differences between BOD POD and DEXA that might help you make your decision.

Question: What’s a good body fat percentage?

Answer: The CDC suggests that a healthy body fat percentage is between 18.5% and 24.9%. However, average healthy body fat percentages depend not only on gender but also on age. Regardless of your gender, you must have a certain amount of essential fat in order to perform basic daily functions like breathing and regulating your temperature. For women, essential fat is 10% to 13% and for men essential fat is 2% to 5% according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition who published a study that generated body fat guidelines by gender and age. You will notice that for DEXA, the essential fat number is a bit higher for men at 8%-10%.

Question: How often should I test my body fat percentage?

Answer: You can test and retest your body fat percentage as often as you’d like. It’s a great way to keep yourself honest and accountable. If you’re trying to see change over time due to a lifestyle or wellness routine change you should target seeing a 1% body fat percentage change per month. Understanding this, it is most common to retest every three to four months so your body has enough time to change in a way that the test can really measure. That being said, there are plenty of athletes and individuals on intense plans who test as often as once per month. If you want to learn more about the importance of retesting over time check-out our Fitnescity Journal post on the subject.

Question: Do I need to fast before my assessment?

Answer: Some assessments do require a limited period of fasting. In order to get the best results from your assessment you should take care to follow the test protocols carefully. You will receive a reminder email 48 hours prior to your assessment. In that email you will find information about all of the protocols you should follow in order to ensure the most accurate results.

Question: How do I use a package?

Answer: After you purchase your package you will receive an email with a code. When you are ready to schedule your assessments you will return to the website and choose the location and test type you booked the package for. During check-out, as you fill in your personal information, you will see a place to enter the code. The code will zero out the balance for the assessment and allow you to request a date and time which will then be sent to our partner to get you booked.

Question: What happens if I’m having difficulty understanding my results?

Answer: When you purchase your assessment, you are also purchasing the Fitnescity digital dashboard and a follow-up call to walk through your results. After you login to your dashboard you find your results along with a header tab titled “what’s next.” There you will find resources including a link to schedule your follow up call.

Question: What’s the difference between region and tissue body fat percentage?

Answer: There are often two body fat percentages reported on your DEXA results. “Region%” accounts for everything in your body including your bones. “Tissue%” reports only on the soft tissue in the area. At Fitnescity, we use the region % in our reporting.

Question: My test required a physician referral, will I need to ask my doctor to sign something?

Answer: If your DEXA requires a physician referral you will want to fill out the requested forms at check-out. We will send those forms to our consulting physician who will review your answers and sign off on the referral order so it can be sent across to our partner. That order will allow us to schedule your DEXA scan for you. If the physician has questions as they review your form, they will reach out to you directly.

Thinking about booking? Unsure of what to do now that you’ve had your assessment? Or, just have a question for us? Reach out via email, phone or text anytime, or leave your question in the comment section here.