Every athlete wants to perform better in their respective sport. Sometimes that means having a greater power:weight ratio. Sometimes it means having better aerobic fitness and endurance. Sometimes it means having more muscle mass. And sometimes it just means weighing less so you have less to carry around in your activities. In this case, knowledge is power, and places like DexaFit are there to help provide you with that information.

DexaFit is an organization expanding throughout the U.S. and geared toward athletes that want to know more information about their body composition and performance. This organization, and others like them, can assess a variety of metrics that help athletes perform better, train smarter, and reach peak potential. Just a few of those metrics include:

• Body Composition: They use DXA scan technology to assess lean muscle mass and body fat percentages. It can identify asymmetries in muscle mass and assess bone mass density. This can be a great tool for preventing injuries because of asymmetries and can help guide future targeted training.
• VO2 max: They use a traditional treadmill test to identify both aerobic and anaerobic thresholds. This can be a good tool to track progress for endurance athletes, but can (along with additional information) also help identify a heart-rate-specific calorie burn and heart rate training zones.

• Resting Metabolic Rate: This is by far the easiest assessment. It only requires breathing into a tube for 15 minutes while at rest. This can give athletes (and really anyone) a good idea of the number of calories the body burns while at rest (i.e., if you were to laze around in bed all day). This metric can be especially helpful in planning nutrition decisions.

As an athlete, the more one knows about their body and how it functions the easier it is to know what changes need to be made and help plan strategies to reach individual goals.

I have been to DexaFit twice and both times have had very positive experiences, learned a lot about my body and how it functions, and have used the information to make goals and plan my training in a smarter way. I would highly recommend paying them or other organizations like them a visit.