We have all been through the Body Mass Index (BMI) testing at some point and I’m sure most have realized its inaccuracy of calculating one’s health. Created in the 19th century, it was originally intended to measure populations of people rather than individuals. Well, just like most things that originated over 100 years ago, it’s time for an upgrade.
One organization that is finding a new way to determine the physical condition of their athletes is the Green Bay Packers. At the end of last season, head coach Mike McCarthy pointed out that running back Eddie Lacy would be required to get in better shape for the next year.
Instead of relying on the inaccurate readings of a BMI, which really only considers your height and weight for its results, the Packers have started using a DXA (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) scan. The machine works like an MRI where the individual lays on a platform and is slid into the machine where it takes x-rays that show the muscle, fat and bone mass for every region of the body.
Check out an example of results here to get an idea of the information the scan receives.
“Every player has a body composition, so that’s what we focus on,” McCarthy said. “That’s a daily focus and evaluation between the weight room and the training room and the nutrition. It’s based on his body composition.”
When using BMI, it’s easy to hide how out of shape you are. To the test, it doesn’t matter whether the weight is coming from muscle or fat but for an athlete, 5 pounds of muscle and 5 pounds of fat could make all the difference.
“The most important thing about the DXA scan is it breaks down your lean mass, fat mass and bone mass for each region of your body so you can identify your muscle symmetry,” said DexaFit co-founder Adam Kadela.
Not only are the Packers using it to monitor a player’s physical fitness, but also to watch the progress after an injury. Packers’ guard T.J. Lang and receiver Jordy Nelson both used it this off-season to recover from their respective injuries. The DXA scan let them keep an eye on the increase in muscle mass through the process, which helped them understand where they were in their rehab.
First look at new, improved #Packers RB Eddie Lacy. Up close, looks like he lost weight, especially in upper body. pic.twitter.com/TjS6ztnqpE
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) May 24, 2016
While the DXA scan isn’t the only thing that helped Lacy get on track to losing weight and getting fit (P90X had a helping hand), it made it easier to keep the him and the rest of the Packers responsible for staying in shape during the off season.
Hopefully these results will turn this system (or one that is similar) into a standard of how organizations determine an athlete’s physical condition.