I recently had the opportunity to gather and compare metrics for 3 options—DXA, Hume and InBody—to measure “body composition,” or estimates for body fat percentage and muscle mass.

Why Your Body Composition Matters

Generally speaking, it’s more important for you to know your body composition than it is to know your weight. To be clear, your weight is not irrelevant. However, your body fat percentage and your muscle mass are much more accurate indicators of whether your overall health is being supported by your diet and exercise.

Many health problems like heart disease, prediabetes / type 2 diabetes and respiratory issues—even some hormonal and reproductive challenges—can be reversed and avoided altogether by lowering your body fat percentage. And when you raise (or at least maintain) your muscle mass, you can enjoy eating more food judgment-free and knowing your risk of all-cause mortality will stay significantly lower as you age.

The challenge is that getting fit really is not as easy as simply exercising more or eating less. The reason is because your metabolism has adjusted over the years.

With every challenge you’ve faced, with every thing you’ve tried, with every coping mechanism you’ve used, your cells have adapted. Your body has been with you through thick and thin. It’s done its best to use the food you’ve provided. It’s found the energy to keep going and do what was necessary. It’s endured your stress levels. And as a result of all of this, your metabolism has adjusted itself uniquely.

Trying to get fit and stay fit without understanding your unique metabolic situation is like trying to drive in thick fog in the dark. Pretty soon, you are lost, frustrated and maybe even tempted to just call it quits.

Following generic advice (like “eat 500 calories less” or “don’t overtrain”) might lead certain people to results — and other people to unintentional muscle loss and weight gain.

The exact diet or training program that works for one person’s metabolism doesn’t necessarily work for another person’s.

That is why customization of diet and exercise is necessary, not just a nice idea.

But until you’re monitoring your body composition while you dial in your fitness and nutrition, you don’t really know how your body is responding… or what’s actually working.

The whole point is: To get fit and stay fit, you need customized, frequent feedback about what’s going on in YOUR body. That feedback is the only way to be sure that your body is supported by the fuel you choose to eat and how you choose to burn calories.

A Quick Overview of Your Options

In my opinion, there are really only 2 categories worth considering: x-ray (DXA) and something called “bioimpedance analysis” (BIA).

The DXA scan technology is widely-considered to be the gold standard for determining body composition because of the precision that x-ray technology provides, as well as the authority of the clinics where they are often found. A DXA machine can run anywhere from $20,000 to over $100,000, depending on the model and manufacturer. Naturally, this creates some variation in reporting. The price of a DXA scan is set by the clinic. Where I live, it’s around $100 for the first scan and then $50 for extra ones.

It’s also extremely important to note that DXA reports are based on that particular facility’s pool of patient data. What this means is, if you’re going to get a DXA scan to monitor your general level of health, it’s best to seek out a sports medicine clinic that has a pool of other patients like you (and not go with a place that only sees elderly people with osteoporosis or arthritis) because the technician will compare you to their patient pool.

The alternative to x-ray is known as “bioimpedance analysis” (BIA) and it’s when a painless, very low-voltage electrical current passes through the body, providing various information about what is on the inside. When you use BIA for body composition, you want to make sure that you’re using a device that not only has you stand on it, but also that has you hold some handles. The handles provide extra points of contact that can gather more data.

Although there are many companies that manufacture BIA devices, the two that I had the opportunity to review and compare are Hume’s “Body Pod” and the InBody scan.

The InBody machines are many thousands of dollars and are often used by gyms as a way to get members to sign up for personal training and meal planning.

The Hume Body Pod, however, is priced for the consumer and sold directly to regular folks.

Invalid Wastes of Time & Energy

A lot of options that people dabble with to identify body fat don’t make the cut with us. Included amongst these are:

• skin calipers
• taking measurements with a tape
• visual identification based on photo comparison
• the Body Mass Index (BMI)

Typically, these are used and promoted because they’re widely available or very inexpensive (if not actually free). I want to move on to the stuff that really works, but quickly, let me explain why, for example, I’m strongly against using free photo collages that can be Googled to identify your body fat percentage.

Reason #1: Individuals who look “skinny” can actually have dangerous levels of Visceral Fat around their organs. There is no way to see Visceral Fat simply from looking at the outside of the body. Because it matters to me to lower my risk of heart disease, avoid type 2 diabetes and optimize all of my internal organs so they can function at peak performance, it’s a priority to keep an eye on my Visceral Fat.

Reason #2: Literally anyone can produce memes and images these days. Who is confirming all those photo composites of random men and women with different Body Fat Percentages are actually accurate?

Reason #3: I’ve learned that even on my own body, fat levels can fluctuate, change and hang on for dear life 😅 (especially in my arms). The location of body fat 3 months ago isn’t necessarily the same location of the body fat today because of my own personal evolution. Plus, and more importantly, if you are gaining muscle mass, that affects the calculation for Body Fat Percentage. There really is no sense comparing our bodies to anyone else’s body. Each of us is unique. 💛

That’s just a quick list of why it matters to me to have more personalized, sophisticated methods of monitoring my progress, without comparing it to anyone else.

My Background & My Data Comparison

I’m a moderately active woman in her early 40’s. I am in the gym most days of the week and my focus includes both cardio and strength training.

My priorities are to keep my Visceral Fat and body fat percentage low while maintaining as high a level of muscle as possible.

In October, when we were vetting and fine-tuning an aspect of our process, I made significant changes to my meal plan and began eating at a calorie deficit. We knew we needed a legit way to track changes both for ourselves and clients, so initially, we planned on recommending DXA.

(The InBody scan machines didn’t seem like an option we could recommend to clients or even use ourselves because many gyms only allow access to it as part of the sales process to sign you up for personal training. Our gym, for example, does not sell InBody reports separately.)

So, I had two DXA’s scheduled. One mid-October and one mid-December.

That was when I started seeing ads for the Hume Body Pod. I was toying with the idea of buying one to try it out. The more we understood the logistical challenges our clients would face trying to find an appropriate place to get DXA scans at around the country, the more appealing the Hume Body Pod seemed. Afterall, it arrives right at the house and takes just 15 seconds to get a reading.

Plus, I also got lucky and won a free training session at my gym which allowed me the opportunity to get a second InBody scan. Eventually, I realized that I could manage to do a direct side-by-side comparison of all 3 devices on the same day in December.

So I placed my order on Hume’s website and called back the sales rep at my gym to schedule my second InBody scan 30 minutes after my DXA.

Two Problems I Didn’t Know I Had

As soon as the Hume arrived, we unboxed it and tried it out.

Right away, I was alarmed to see how low my muscle mass was. Wondering what had gone wrong, I reviewed all my food tracking logs and realized that I hadn’t actually been eating as much protein as I had intended to. In addition to that, my math calculations were off. I had not been eating enough calories. It’s a guaranteed combination to lose muscle mass.

With just 10 days to go until the big side-by-side-by-side comparison, I adjusted my meal plan, upping my daily calorie intake as well as my protein amounts.

During my diligent morning check-in’s on the Hume Body Pod, I was pleasantly surprised to see my muscle mass climbing up steadily.

When the day came for the big triple comparison in December, I started with the Hume Body Pod at home as normal. I stayed in a fasted state through my DXA scan (which means I didn’t have anything to eat or drink but water) until my free training session where I could get my second InBody scan.

I ended up doing another comparison in February, but because I didn’t have access to any more free training sessions at my gym, that day doesn’t include the InBody scan.

Comparing The Results: DXA vs Body Pod vs InBody

In the graphs below, you can see the trends reported by the 3 different devices. We’re using gold for DXA (because it’s the gold standard), purple for Hume and green for InBody scan.

Body Fat Percentage

When you look at the graph below, please notice that the decline for InBody is extremely gradual. Although InBody started close to DXA’s measurement for my BFP, it measured the smallest change over 3 months.

However, the slope of the DXA and Hume lines are pretty similar to each other. No, they aren’t identical. Hume’s measurements are lower and report there is less body fat. But despite the different numbers, the slope is similar. This means that even though Hume’s measurements are lower, the general trend wass being reported correctly.

Whereas the InBody machine didn’t really pick up on the trend. (This could be due to the calibration and maintenance of the gym’s machine and it doesn’t mean every InBody scanner would produce this… just the one I happened to use.)

Skeletal Muscle Mass

Skeletal Muscle Mass is the fancy phrase to talk about all the meat attached to your bones. We measure this in pounds on the graph below.

There are 2 interesting things to notice here. Can you see how the green Inbody line is dropping gradually? This means InBody is reporting that I lost muscle. Again, that’s probably due to miscalibration of the gym’s machine.

However, the gold and purple lines are both gradually trending up. Hume does have a little blip that jumps up and then calms back down, but the distance between the gold and purple lines is generally pretty similar and consistent. This indicates that even though Hume is reporting more flattering numbers than DXA, they are both identifying the same thing: My muscle mass is increasing, and at a similar rate.

Lean Mass

“Lean mass” is everything in the body except fat. This includes not just muscle, but also bones, organs and water both inside and between cells. Again, it’s measured in pounds in the graph below.

The results here are pretty similar to what we saw above. The InBody scan is alone in its analysis… while DXA and Hume agree with each other. Again, the Hume numbers are more flattering, but the slope of the purple line is very close to the gold one.

And The Winner Is…

The combination of the Hume Body Pod for daily use and the DXA for periodic confirmations. Thanks to the Body Pod, I was able to notice muscle loss in early December and take the necessary steps to rapidly improve my situation. Without it, I would have wasted another 2 weeks getting smaller-than-possible gains.

As I accumulated over 70 check-ins on the Body Pod over the next months, it continued providing support and feedback that my meal plan and fitness routine were optimized for me.

DXA will continue to be the gold standard, and it’s useful to get confirmation with a totally different system (x-ray versus bioimpedence)

At first glance, you might think the Hume Body Pod is just a classy scale that you would put in your bedroom or bathroom to weigh yourself. In fact, it does a lot more than that.

The Body Pod uses something called “bioimpedance” technology to painlessly send a low-voltage electrical current throughout your body. In about 15 seconds, the Body Pod is able to identify all of the following.

• Weight (either in pounds or kilos)
• Basal Metabolic Rate (the speed of your metabolism; how many calories you are burning daily for basic functions like breathing, digesting, etc)
• Body Fat Percentage
• Visceral Fat (the fat stored around your organs and a major indicator of overall health)
• Lean Mass (everything in your body that’s not fat; both in pounds and as an overall percentage of your total weight)
• Body Mass Index (an increasingly outdated metric that can mislabel people because it ignores body composition and considers only weight and height)
• Body Water, Extracellular and Intracellular Water
• Inorganic Salt Content
• Skeletal Mass (the weight of your bones in your body)
• Skeletal Muscle Mass (the weight of the muscles attached to your bones)
• Resting Heart Rate
• Fat Mass and Muscle Mass of
  • your torso
  • each arm
  • each leg
• Metabolic Age

All that data gets synced and tracked in the free app for both iPhone and Android, without requiring you to pay a monthly subscription fee.

Key Features

Cost Effective for Multiple Users. If you’re planning on getting at least 4 DXA scans (and most people should), the Hume Body Pod pays for itself. Because multiple people can pair their phone with the same Hume Body Pod, an entire household can benefit from this investment.

Ease & Convenience. It takes me 30 seconds to use the Hume Body Pod… versus 5-10 minutes on the phone scheduling my DXA, waiting days for an opening, getting into a fasted state, driving to the clinic, waiting for my turn, spending 6 minutes getting x-rayed, waiting another 5-10 minutes for the technician to prepare my paper report. It’s so much faster and easier to use the Body Pod in my house. Plus, I don’t need to rearrange my work schedule or client meetings in any way (or adjust the timing of my meals to stay in a fasted state long enough) just for the sake of getting a DXA.

Reporting. I think the app is pretty intuitive and well designed. You can slide through nice little graphs that show you your numbers by day, week or month.

You can also generate progress reports that make it easier to identify trends and changes.

What Almost Made Me Return It

Right from the beginning when I downloaded the Hume app to my phone, I had an extremely glitchy experience. The app would fail to load. Or if it did load, it would take forever for me to move through the menus and view my data.

Out of determination to make it to the date of my second DXA scan, I persevered daily, cursing regularly and spending anywhere between 5-10 minutes per day trying to get the Hume app to work.

Despite the fact that we wanted something we could recommend to clients that was more practical than DXA scans, there was just no way we could do that with the daily frustration I was experiencing.

Fortunately, Craig asked me to try uninstalling and reinstalling the Hume app.

As soon as I reinstalled the app, every single one of the issues I had disappeared. Since then, it’s been a great experience. This is the one “trick” you must remember for yourself if you go ahead with trying Hume. Be ready to uninstall and reinstall the app.

The Benefits I’ve Experienced

spotted where I was getting off track with my nutrition so that I could quickly course correct

what I like most

Metabolic Age

gave me valuable feedback when I was on track and off track to reach my goals. This is essential because when you’re exercising and dia getting fit in a healthy and sustainable way, the changes don’t happen overnight. We can carry around old beliefs and images of ourselves in our mind, and the Hume Body Pod helps reflect back current information that has allowed me to update the beliefs I ahve and image of myself in my own mind.

In my opinion, the Body Pod is best suited for…

• Anyone of any age who wants to get feedback about their nutrition plan or fitness / training program
• Anyone who can see themselves paying for at least 4 DXA scans (either for themselves or for others) in the foreseeable future
• Anyone who wants to keep an eye on their Visceral Fat levels as an indicator of overall health and lowered risks of heart disease
• Anyone who’s recently been diagnosed with any kind of chronic illness, especially those related to metabolic disorders (prediabetes, diabetes,

Limitations & Drawbacks of the Hume Body Pod

Hume ships in waves every two weeks, so depending on when you order, there might be waiting for the shipping window to open.

The connection from the app to the scale is almost too good. If a competing phone is nearby with the Hume app still open, you might have trouble getting your phone to connect.

The app might be glitchy and if you didn’t already hear from me to uninstall and reinstall, you might be as frustrated as some of the people I saw leaving reviews in the app store.

People who might not benefit from the Hume Body Pod:

• Pregnant women are not advised to use bioimpedance analysis technology due to lack of conclusive research findings.
• People with impaired balance or mobility may not be able to stand on it and pull up the handle fast enough to get the scale to wake up and do a reading.
• The maximum weight limit of the Hume Body Pod is 400 pounds / 200 kilos, so it cannot be used by individuals above that weight.

not going to analyze bone density so it doesn’t keep an eye on osteoporosis — but it is generally accepted that people with muscle mass at __% are safe from osteoporosis so the Hume Body Pod offers a way to indirectly measure your risk of this

You will need a strategy to go with the Hume Body Pod. On its own, it’s simply a tool that provides feedback about your body. I imagine this is why Hume created their extra paid app — but because we use The Fit System for ourselves and with clients, it was not necessary for me to try the Hume paid subscription, so I cannot speak to how effective their app is.

missing features?

Guidance for Using The Hume Body Pod

Here is my advice to get the most accurate result if you decide to try the Body Pod.

• Use it in the morning. You’ll get the most accurate results if you’re unclothed, after going to the bathroom and before eating.
• Dehydration lowers accuracy. Your hydration level is incredibly important because the electrical current will not travel the same through dehydrated tissue.
• There’s a calibration period. The numbers can jump around during the first 3 days as it’s establishing your baseline. Avoid having any attachment to the metrics that come from your first 3 consecutive days of use. Wait until day 4 to start drawing any conclusions about anything.

tricks for interpreting data or using the app effectively

My Overall Recommendation & Discount Coupon

I recommend it because the Hume Body Pod provides a lot of the same metrics that comes from a DXA scan. It just does so much more conveniently and for a better price in the long run (especially if your household is likely to purchase 4 or more DXA scans in the foreseeable future).

If you’re interested in trying the Hume Body Pod for yourself, you can use our referral code CHAMPION to save 20%. I only share products I genuinely use and trust!