JJ Virgin explains why DEXA scans beat bioimpedance scales for measuring body composition. Get a DEXA baseline first, then use cheaper bioimpedance devices to track changes over time. Her bioimpedance reads about 5% higher than DEXA, so consistency matters more than absolute accuracy.
Bioimpedance is not going to be accurate like a DEXA scan. What I like to do is go do a DEXA, come back, start monitoring your bioimpedance, and see what the difference is. I know my bioimpedance is about 5% higher read than what the DEXA is, but I'm just looking for the relative change. That's all I'm looking for, so I'm able to track. And I know there's a lot of stuff around scales, and what I want to really impress upon you is we are looking at body composition, and we're looking at this as a biometric tool. That's it. Not as a mean person judging you, as a biometric tool so that we can see if what you're doing is working or we need to make adjustments. Because diets and exercise and recovery are tools, and we need to see what are going to be the best tools for you. If anyone's telling you there's one way to do these things, they're nuts, because there's not. So that's the first part. We got to make sure we know where you're starting from, and then we've got to make sure that we're tracking along the way so we can monitor your progress.
