How a Dexa Scan changed my life

For the past few years, I thought I was leading a healthy lifestyle. I swam a few times a week and cycled regularly to get around.

I recalled when I first started my previous stint at Spot, my entire life for the first three month was just swimming and studying.

However, I was not really interested in strength training. I felt going to the gym was boring and not my thing. I was afraid I’d become too big. I would only go once a week.

Things changed when I did a Dexa scan in October last year.

I did the scan mainly to check on my bone density, since women tend to lose bone mass faster as we age.This is because women generally lose bone density as we grow older at a faster rate.

I felt that a Dexa Scan will be much more accurate as I read that the ‘advanced weighing scale” we get at the gym or home were not very accurate.

When the test was done, my bone density was healthy.

What surprised me however was that my body fat was a whopping 37 percent and, my muscle mass was at the bottom 10% for my age group.

For benchmarking purposes, a fit woman should have their body fat percentage in the 21-24 percent. For men, here is the benchmark.

I was shocked about my results because I look like this in Q3 last year. I seemed like a normal healthy adult.

I later learned that my condition is sometimes described as being ‘skinny fat’—a term used when someone appears slim but has low muscle mass and a higher body fat percentage.

When running through my results, they told me that my muscle mass was a massive cause for concern.

This was a combination of a diet that did not have enough protein and also doing mostly cardio.

According to them, I was not alone. Many Singaporeans are like that. They do not take enough protein in their diet and mostly did cardio like running, swimming and cycling.

The advice the doctor gave:

I made two changes in my life starting mid-October 2023. Of course, everyone’s body is different—what worked for me may not work for all

1. I stopped swimming. Instead, I would gym about 3 times per week. I started off with 30 minute session each time with simple exercises like lat pulldowns, dumbbell squats etc.
   

2. While I respect the benefits of plant-based diets, I personally found that incorporating more animal protein helped me meet my goals more effectively

While my main motivation was simply to increase my muscle mass and ensure I do not have issues at old age, I realized that at the end of February, I had lost fat.

This is simply a by-product of going to the gym 3x per week for only 30 minutes in each session.

In fact, during these few months, I was away in Taiwan and USA for two weeks each and was not able to work out as often.

I also began to notice a lot of benefits to my life

1. Much higher energy levels during the day

Firstly, I had better focus, was more alert and never felt sleepy at work.

Building muscle mass increases your basal metabolic rate, meaning your body burns more calories at rest. A higher metabolism can contribute to sustained energy levels throughout the day.

Strength training also meant I had better blood circulation. This ensures that more oxygen and nutrients are delivered to the brain, which can enhance cognitive function and alertness.

Another reason was because I could also sleep better. When your body is tired, you fall asleep much easier. This meant I rarely felt tired during the day.

2. I was able to optimize my schedule to balance work and fitness

As time passed, I increased my exercise frequency: sprinting once a week, extending strength training from 30 to 50 minutes, and adding an extra session weekly.

I never saw fitness as competing with work; in fact, being fit enhances my energy and job performance.

Although initially challenging, I learned that "not enough time" is never a valid excuse. This forced me to optimize my schedule even more.

Gradually, I integrated my routine into my schedule, a point of pride, especially given my demanding job at a pre-IPO company.

My goal now is to train with a balance of strength, speed, and endurance—what some call a “hybrid athlete.”

3. Improve your healthspan

Improving muscle mass is not for it’s own sake. Ultimately, my main objective was really to extend my health span.

By building more muscle, I can slow the progression of sarcopenia and reduce risk of diabetes, Alzheimers and many other metabolic disease.

How does improving muscle mass correlate with metabolic health? Muscle tissue is a primary site for glucose uptake in response to insulin. More muscle mass means more tissue that can take up glucose from the blood, reducing blood glucose levels and making the body more responsive to insulin.

Cardio still has its place for heart health and endurance, but for my specific goal of increasing muscle mass, strength training needed to take priority.

If this resonates with you, what is one small thing you could start doing this week for your fitness?