Originally Posted by
Sierra_rider
Admittedly, my case is unusual, as I'm chasing performance. A scan gave me a healthy lower limit for weight that I could shoot for. I'm kinda heavy for height...the scan basically confirmed that I actually am big boned and that dropping more than 5lbs of body fat wasn't going to be a wise choice. That being said, I didn't pay for this scan and it's not something I see myself pursuing outside of my racing goals.
Originally Posted by
rayb2
Nice.
As regards the question - I first measured my bone mass as part of a research project 40 y ago (for the nerds out there - dual photon absorptiometry as it was pre-DEXA.) Since then, I've tended to always wear hip padded shorts when commuting and touring, and after flipping a track bike a couple decades ago, I have elbow protection as well.
Might not want to wait until your 8th decade of life to check how much bone mass you're starting with - a baseline can be helpful. In my case, if my first bone mass was yesterday, folks would be scrambling to get me medication. As my doctors know I haven't lost bone mass throught the decades, there's some reassurance I can continue on with my program.
Jus' a thought.
Those are good points. Though I'm imagining that both of you at the time and possibly for all your life have been very active and athletic. And always with lean body mass. Much of my thoughts for making my statement in post
33 are toward those of us that aren't so active or of lean body mass.
And perhaps just to make certain there is no real use for a Dexa scan results to materially alter our training program or nutrition. Other than perhaps, for the few that are shown to be losing too much bone mass, they need to up their resistance exercise and assess their nutrition.
I've read that 10% body fat might be reasonable for active and very athletic persons. And that currently isn't me. Though for one that is, 5 lbs of body fat lost could be a health issue.
But again, I don't feel that the average member here on BF needs to feel a need to shop around for a Dexa scan until their GP they should be seeing regularly, recommends one. Which typically is after 70 yo. It's not going to change their cycling performance or training to increase that performance to know that information.