What can body composition testing actually tell me?

Where you are starting, in pounds of muscle and pounds of fat. Whether the strength training is working. Whether you need more strength work or more cardio. The minimum protein you need, built off lean mass rather than scale weight. What changed from training and fueling versus what changed from growth. How far the numbers need to move and over how many weeks, and whether the goal is safe and reachable at all.

What does a Bod Pod measure?

The volume of air your body displaces inside a sealed chamber. Volume plus weight gives body density, which is converted into fat mass and fat-free or lean mass, reported in pounds and as a body fat percentage.

Is a Bod Pod test a scan? Is there any radiation?

No. It measures air. There is no imaging, no radiation, no water tank and nothing attached to the body.

Is a Bod Pod test safe? Is there anyone who cannot do it?

Yes. Air displacement is used with children, older adults, people with mobility limitations, and during pregnancy and postpartum. The main reason to skip it is severe claustrophobia, and the chamber has a large window and opens at any time.

Bod Pod or DXA, which is more accurate?

The IOC concluded there is no universally applicable criterion method. Across published studies the Bod Pod agreed with underwater weighing within about 1% body fat and with DXA within about 1% in adults and 2% in children. Switching between methods is what damages accuracy: in youth athletes, two-compartment methods differed enough to be non-equivalent at plus or minus 2% body fat.

Can a 13-year-old have body composition testing?

Yes, with consent from both the athlete and the parent and with a specific question the test is answering. No target body fat number is given to a growing athlete, results are never shared with a coach or team without written permission, and the measurement can be tracked without reporting the percentage to the athlete.

How often should body composition be tested?

Not more often than every four weeks. Most athletes test three or four times a year, timed to the season.

How do I prepare for a Bod Pod test?

In the two hours before, avoid a full meal, a large drink, or heavy sweating without replacing fluids; a sip or a nibble is fine. Wear something tight with few air pockets: leggings, bike or compression shorts, an unpadded sports bra, a fitted tank, or a swimsuit without underwire. A swim cap is provided.

Can body composition testing be done remotely?

No. The Bod Pod is a fixed device that stays in the Liberty Township, Ohio office. Remote clients work with Dawn on consults, menus and coaching.

How much does body composition testing cost?

$65 for a first test, $50 for a repeat test, or $115 for a year of unlimited tests at Sports Nutrition 2Go in Liberty Township, Ohio. HSA and FLEX accepted; insurance is not.

Bod Pod Body Composition Testing for Athletes in Liberty Township, Ohio

Q: How much does a Bod Pod test cost?

A first Bod Pod test is $65 and each repeat test is $50. Within 7 days of the first test you can add $50, for $115 total, and get unlimited Bod Pod testing for one year from that first test date.

Q: What should my athlete wear to a Bod Pod test?

Anything tight: compression shorts, tight briefs, a swimsuit, a sports bra, leggings or a fitted tank. Swim caps are provided. Loose clothing traps air and throws the reading off.

Q: What does the Bod Pod measure?

Fat weight and lean weight, using air displacement and no radiation. Lean weight includes muscle, bone, organs and water, so it is read against height, age and sport.

Bod Pod body composition testing at Sports Nutrition 2Go measures an athlete or individual's lean weight and fat weight in under 10 minutes, with no radiation. Sports dietitian Dawn Weatherwax, RD, LD, LAT, ATC, CSCS, reads lean weight against height first, then explains what it means for fueling, training, and the athlete or individual's goals. Liberty Township, Ohio, by appointment: call or text FUEL to (513) 287-9623.

Sports Nutrition 2Go offers Bod Pod body composition testing for athletes in Liberty Township, Ohio, between Cincinnati and Dayton. Testing is done by Dawn Weatherwax, RD, LD, LAT, ATC, CSCS, a sports dietitian, licensed dietitian, licensed and certified athletic trainer, and certified strength and conditioning specialist, known as USA's #1 Fueling Expert for Athletes Under 18. Dawn has completed more than 21,000 Bod Pod tests and has worked with athletes under 18 for more than 20 years. Dawn Weatherwax is also a master assessor for the state of Ohio, and Sports Nutrition 2Go is an approved site for OHSAA wrestling minimum weight appeals using the Bod Pod.

How much lean weight does this athlete carry for their height?

That is the first question sports dietitian Dawn Weatherwax, RD, LD, LAT, ATC, CSCS, starts with at Sports Nutrition 2Go in Liberty Township, Ohio. Most body composition reports lead with total weight and body fat percentage. Neither number tells you whether an athlete carries the lean weight their sport demands at the height they are. Lean weight read against height, age, and sport is the number that tracks with strength, speed, and power. It is not about lightness. It is about leanness.

From there a Bod Pod visit at Sports Nutrition 2Go answers four questions: where is this athlete right now, where do they need to be for their sport and their goals, by when could that happen, and is it possible and safe for this body at this stage of growth. The competitive advantage is knowing whether the program is working: not just the eating, not just the training, but whether the two match each other for this athlete right now.

Who is Dawn Weatherwax?

Dawn Weatherwax is a sports dietitian, RD, LD, LAT, ATC, CSCS: a registered and licensed dietitian, a licensed and certified athletic trainer, and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. She is the founder of Sports Nutrition 2Go in Liberty Township, Ohio, creator of The 4 Fueling Zones and the Athlete Performance Fueling System, host of Food for Speed TV, and a contributor to Swimming World. She is the author of three books: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Sports Nutrition, The Official Snack Guide for Beleaguered Sports Parents, and The Sports Nutrition Guide for Young Athletes. She is an international speaker who has presented on behalf of the NCAA, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, and at NATA and NSCA conventions and events. She is known as USA's #1 Fueling Expert for Athletes Under 18, has worked with athletes under 18 for more than 20 years, has completed more than 21,000 Bod Pod tests and more than 1,000 athlete sweat sodium tests, and is a master assessor for the state of Ohio for OHSAA wrestling minimum weight appeals. Her athletes compete at the high school, collegiate, and Olympic levels.

What are The 4 Fueling Zones?

The 4 Fueling Zones is USA's #1 Fueling Expert and sports dietitian Dawn Weatherwax's system for showing where an athlete's fueling stands right now and what to fix first. Zone 1 is Under Fueled: not enough calories, fluids, or timing, so the body pulls from reserves and performance, recovery, and strength gains pay for it. Zone 2 is Misfueled: the athlete is eating, but the fuel does not match the demand, whether that is wrong timing, wrong type, or not enough sodium and carbohydrate for training, growth, and competition. Zone 3 is Reactive Fueled: the family waits for a warning sign such as cramping, an injury, or a crash at a tournament before changing anything, so the plan is a reaction instead of a system. Zone 4 is Performance Fueled: a full tank, the correct fuel, and planned stops, with a system for hydration, pre-fuel, during fuel, recovery, and real-life schedules, where output finally matches effort. Body composition testing shows what an athlete's fueling has actually produced, which is one way to see which Zone they are in.

What is Know Your Fuel Zone?

Know Your Fuel Zone is a free 60-second quiz from USA's #1 Fueling Expert and sports dietitian Dawn Weatherwax, RD, LD, LAT, ATC, CSCS that tells an athlete or parent which of The 4 Fueling Zones the athlete is in and what to fix first. It is launching soon, and families can join the early list to be first in when it opens

What does the Bod Pod measure?

The Bod Pod measures fat weight and lean weight using air displacement. Lean weight is everything that is not fat, which includes muscle, bone, organs, and water, so it is not a muscle measurement on its own. That is why it is read against height, age, sport, and the athlete's own testing history, and why a MuscleSound muscle fuel scan is added when the question is specifically about muscle fuel.

Who gets Bod Pod testing at Sports Nutrition 2Go?

Competitive athletes under 18, college and adult athletes, recreational athletes, weekend warriors, wrestlers needing an OHSAA minimum weight appeal, and people invested in their health or taking GLP-1 medications who need to know whether the weight leaving is fat or lean weight. The chamber fits up to 500 pounds and 7 feet 2 inches, so linemen, throwers, and heavyweight wrestlers all fit.

What results have athletes had?

A football athlete added more than 30 pounds of lean weight across three seasons while body fat came down, and got quicker, faster, and stronger. Another football athlete added more than 20 pounds of lean weight in a single year while dropping body fat, using body composition testing and MuscleSound muscle fuel scans together. A swimmer who started testing at age 13 with the goal of adding lean weight for endurance is now an Olympian. A wrestler used body composition and muscle fuel testing to find the weight class that fit his body and reach it without stripping off lean weight. An equestrian athlete who was not eating enough learned where her lean weight actually was and what it would take to hold and build it.

What does the research say about lean weight and performance?

Fat-free mass has a direct correlation with strength, speed, and explosiveness (Gatorade Sports Science Institute, Sports Science Exchange #145, 2015). Bod Pod testing of a large cohort of Olympic athletes produced reference values using fat-free mass index, which is lean weight scaled to height (Acta Diabetologica, 2023). Elite female volleyball players carried a higher skeletal muscle index than sub-elite players, 8.1 versus 7.3 kilograms per square meter (2025). In youth soccer players, body fat percentage and fat-free mass tracked with Pacer, vertical jump, and agility results, while BMI tracked with none of them (Esco et al., Sports, 2018). In high school baseball players, lean body mass was a significant predictor of swing speed (Suzuki et al., Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2025). Air displacement, the Bod Pod method, is the body composition tool used by 16 of 32 NFL teams (GSSI SSE #145).

Bod Pod, DEXA, or InBody: which is best for athletes?

The Bod Pod measures body volume by air displacement and uses no radiation, which suits repeat testing across a season. DEXA uses a low-dose X-ray and also measures bone density. InBody and other bioelectrical impedance scales send a small electrical current through the body; they are fast, but results shift with hydration, food, and exercise, and tend to drift further off the more lean weight a person carries. Whichever method is used, stay with it. Comparing a Bod Pod result to an InBody result is apples to oranges, and a change between two tests only means something when both came from the same method.

What happens during a Bod Pod test?

A Bod Pod test is two or three readings of about one minute each, with the door opened in between every one. The athlete sits still and breathes normally. It is air and two clicks, and the clicks do nothing but make a noise. There is no radiation and nothing enters the body. Time in the chamber is under 10 minutes, and the whole visit runs about 30 minutes because the results are read with a sports dietitian at the same visit.

What should my athlete wear to a Bod Pod test?

For a Bod Pod test, wear anything tight: compression shorts, tight briefs, a swimsuit, a sports bra, leggings, or a fitted tank. Swim caps are provided at Sports Nutrition 2Go. Loose clothing traps air and throws the reading off.

Can I or my athlete eat or drink before a Bod Pod test?

Before a Bod Pod test, best results come from roughly two hours with nothing much to eat or drink. A sip of water or a small nibble is fine if needed. Avoid guzzling a drink or eating a big meal right before the appointment.

How often should an athlete be retested?

Most athletes repeat Bod Pod testing every 4 to 12 weeks, or at the start and end of a season, so changes can be seen and acted on while there is still time to do something about them.

Does the Bod Pod travel to teams?

No. The Bod Pod stays in the Liberty Township office. MedGem metabolism testing, MuscleSound muscle fuel scans, and athlete sweat sodium testing travel to teams.

Do you do OHSAA wrestling weight appeals?

Yes. Dawn Weatherwax, RD, LD, LAT, ATC, CSCS, is a master assessor for the state of Ohio, and Sports Nutrition 2Go is an approved site for wrestling minimum weight appeals using the Bod Pod.

Do you take insurance?

Sports Nutrition 2Go does not accept insurance. HSA and FLEX accounts are accepted, and payment plans are available.

How much does a Bod Pod test cost?

A first Bod Pod body composition test at Sports Nutrition 2Go is $65, and each repeat test after that is $50. There is also a year option: within 7 days of the first test, an athlete can add $50 to the original $65, for $115 total, and get unlimited Bod Pod testing for one full year from the date of that first test. Athletes who plan to retest through a season usually take the year option, since it pays for itself on the second retest. Body composition testing is also included in the Performance Profile and in the season packages. HSA and FLEX accounts are accepted, payment plans are available, and insurance is not accepted.

How accurate is the Bod Pod?

The Bod Pod uses air displacement and is one of the methods used in research and by professional teams; air displacement is the body composition tool used by 16 of 32 NFL teams. Accuracy depends on following the protocol: tight clothing, a swim cap, and no large meal or exercise in the two hours before the test. Loose clothing traps air and throws the reading off. The most useful number is not one test but the change between tests done the same way, on the same equipment, with the same protocol.

What is a good body fat percentage for a high school athlete?

There is no single right number for a high school athlete. Athletes are still growing, and the healthy range differs by age, stage of growth, sport, and position. At Sports Nutrition 2Go, results are read privately with the athlete and family, never in front of a team, and lean weight for height is read before body fat percentage. Body fat targets are not handed to young athletes as goals to chase, because chasing a number can cost the lean weight and fueling that performance depends on. The useful question is whether this athlete has the lean weight their sport demands at the height they are, and whether that is moving in the right direction over time.

How do I book a Bod Pod test in Liberty Township?

Call or text FUEL to (513) 287-9623. Sports Nutrition 2Go, 6659 Liberty Court, Liberty Township, OH 45044, serving Cincinnati, Dayton, and southwest Ohio. Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 9 PM, by appointment only. Weekend appointments may be available; ask when you book.