Within four minutes, Bodyscan DEXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) measures your entire body composition showing exactly how much muscle and fat you have, as well as revealing your bone density. Ageing often sees us leading more sedentary lives and putting on weight feels inevitable, bringing with it increased risk of associated conditions like diabetes, strokes and heart attacks. Knowing exactly what’s going on inside your body can give you the hard evidence to try and change it for the better.
Insight
Phil Chant brought Bodyscan to the UK after discovering the technology in Australia:
It’s the land of the beautiful people and I soon realised I needed a better body for Bondi beach.
A keen gym-goer, Chant employed a personal trainer but was surprised when Bodyscan revealed high levels of visceral fat, the dangerous kind surrounding internal organs, leading him to ditch his trainer. “Anyone can see your body’s exterior but the scan gave me insight and motivation to change my body for the better.”
Sedentary
For anyone relying on scales or who thinks their BMI (body mass index – a measure that uses your height and weight to calculate if your weight is healthy) is enough, Chant has disturbing news: “BMI is totally misleading and a pointless obsession. It’s useless in telling you how much fat you’re carrying. If you exercise and build muscle, it weighs more than fat, so scales simply show weight gain.” It’s body composition, building muscle whilst losing fat, which is key to good health says Chant who sees growing numbers of older clients – in their fifties and beyond – who are doing exactly that. “Years ago, at the age of sixty you might have only had ten years left, but today’s over-sixties could have forty years left so they want to be in the best shape possible. We all tend to be more sedentary as we get older. We move less, lift things less as we’re more cautious, and it’s then that you can lose muscle and in women especially, visceral fat levels can rise dramatically.”
Bone density
Discovering your bone density is another vital part of the jigsaw that Bodyscan helps with and again this is especially relevant for older women who are at greater risk of fractures. “It’s very difficult to tell what state your bones are in. You don’t know until you fall over and break something,” says Chant who measures each client’s data against others in their age group so that they can see how they rank. Many older clients have drastically improved their lean muscle and reduced fat levels after undergoing scans says Chant: “Remember it’s not about weight, it’s about body composition, and you can improve your body at any age.”
Bodyscan starts from £159 including a personal consultation and is available in London only. Call: 020 3490 4171 or visit bodyscanuk.com
By Ginetta Vedrickas