It doesn’t really matter if you end up on team BOD POD or team DEXA, both are great tools for learning more about your unique body composition. By understanding how these body composition tests are similar, and different, you can better determine which method will offer you the insights you need to reach your individual wellness goals.

It’s no secret that wellness is on people’s minds these days. What many have come to realize is that wellness in the workplace is just as important as being healthy at home. Coming out of COVID, companies that offer health benefits and corporate wellness programs can use these tools to engage employees (especially Millennials) and get them going in the right direction. It’s time to reconsider the perks and benefits you offer in your corporate wellness program.

Fitnescity has partnered with Caliber a one-on-one coaching platform to offer a next step to our community. Caliber brings together a personalized plan that spans fitness, nutrition and healthy habits, plus attentive, expert coaching from only the best trainers in the business and then wrap it in a super fun and engaging app that makes working out something you look forward to, not something you dread.

How's your health literacy? If you aren't sure exactly what that term means, you're not alone. According to the most basic definition from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health literacy describes your ability to find and understand information about your personal health concerns. It also includes your ability to make decisions about your health and body composition based on trustworthy information. Health literacy gives you the power to seek prompt and appropriate treatment for both acute and chronic illnesses that threaten your well-being.

Second only to nutritional changes, exercise is the most powerful way to optimize your body composition. But various types of workouts may influence your body composition in different ways. Depending on the type of exercise, physical activity can help you build muscle, burn fat, or both.

Vitamin D is needed to absorb, build, and maintain strong, healthy bones. It’s also vital to cell growth and blood sugar regulation and assists in the functioning of muscles, nerves, and the immune system. Unfortunately, nearly half of American adults don’t get enough of the “sunshine hormone.”

Carbo-loading is a strategy that involves packing your diet full of carbohydrates in an effort to maximize glycogen stores, your body’s primary form of energy. The technique has long been utilized by athletes before a big game, race, or competition—but it turns out carbo-loading may actually do most of us more harm than good.

The natural process of aging results in changes that can significantly affect your health, wellness and body composition —like less muscle tone, weaker bones, and more body fat. However, exercise can help to combat these changes and keep you healthier well into your retirement years. Staying active is extremely beneficial for your body composition and mental wellness.

Green tea is one of the world’s healthiest beverages—and for good reason. It carries several benefits, including all the ways it can help promote healthy body composition. Green tea is a natural “fat burner,” and it also magnifies the beneficial effects of cardio and strength exercise. The compounds in green tea may additionally help you de-stress, which is great for your body.

For certain groups, including women, black people and people with low income, who make up the majority of Americans classified as “obese,” this outdated form of measurement - that makes no distinction between bone density, muscle mass and body fat - may for once be their friend, not foe. In fact, millions of Americans in Texas, New York and Utah have already realized this.

Visceral fat affects the risk of cancer in men and women differently. It puts men at an increased risk of prostate cancer and increases breast cancer risk in women. This may be due to inflammation, which can lead to increased estrogen production. No matter your sex, body fat testing (DEXA/DXA, BOD POD, SECA) is an extremely helpful tool for assessing your risk.

Visceral (belly) fat may increase the risk of certain types of cancer, in both men and women, or contribute to worse outcomes in people who have cancer. Strategies to reduce visceral fat include eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and reducing your stress level. However, regular body composition testing through DEXA, BOD POD or SECA, is key to understanding and mitigating your risk.

Your ethnic background can influence your risk for various diseases and even play a role in your body composition. For example, we know that Black people tend to have a more favorable fat distribution but higher blood pressure, while Hispanic people may be predisposed to abdominal fat. Additionally, white and Asian women are more prone to osteoporosis. Fortunately, a healthy lifestyle can mitigate your risk.

A normal weight doesn’t necessarily mean you’re healthy. People who are “skinny fat” are outwardly slim but carry excess belly fat that puts them at risk of conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. To improve your body comp, you should focus on eating a protein-rich diet at maintenance calories while incorporating cardio and resistance exercises and regular body composition scans.

Genetics play a huge role in determining your weight and body composition. Your susceptibility to obesity and how fat is distributed on your body are also genetically determined. Fortunately, a healthy lifestyle and regular health monitoring can help to overcome the effects of “bad genes” and help you generate a healthy body composition.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) implemented whole body DXA scans of survey participants age 8 years and older to provide nationally representative data on body composition.

Results: Females had higher percentage body fat and fat mass than males. After age 11 years, males had higher lean tissue and fat-free mass than females. Percentage body fat was lowest at ages 16–19 years among males and at ages 8–15 years among females.

We now know that having the right microbes is essential to health. But how exactly do we help the “right” strains flourish? What environments should we expose ourselves to? And, what lifestyle factors do we incorporate to integrate healthy strains of bacteria into our gut and get rid of bad ones? In the next couple of posts, we will discuss how exactly we can do that. How we can flourish optimal strains and promote diversity of microbes to create this “lush” bacterial ecosystem.

With so much attention on COVID-19, ordinary elements of many people’s wellness routines have fallen by the wayside. But no amount of hand washing can replace quality nutrition and staying active. In conjunction with healthy lifestyle choices, regular lab testing offers an array of benefits, from catching unwanted muscle loss to revealing valuable insights into your nutritional needs.

At 6-foot-3 and 375 pounds with a BMI of 46.9, Michael Onwenu is “severely” obese. That’s according to official parameters set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), anyway, which relies on the Body Mass Index (BMI) to screen for overweight or obesity. But in addition to being “severely obese,” Onwenu is a professional athlete. And not just any athlete—he’s the strong, fast, and fit offensive lineman for the New England Patriots who has been touted as “one of the best rookies in the NFL.” By using DEXA scan results to inform training programs and provide positive reinforcement, parents and coaches can help young athletes avoid injury, prevent disease, and improve their overall health and performance.

Compared to traditional measures like scale weight and BMI, body composition—or the total amount of fat, muscle, bone, water and other tissues in your body—is a much more valuable indicator of progress. This post will discuss the benefits of monitoring your body composition, suggest how often to check yours, and share science-backed strategies for improving your ratio of lean mass to body fat.