Your appointment
What you are made of, and what you can do with it.
Two tests in one visit: a DEXA body composition scan and a VO2 Max test. Your structure and your engine, both measured rather than estimated. Here is exactly how the visit runs and how to arrive ready.
Don't forget your medical questionnaire. Your link is in the booking email we sent you, and it is unique to your appointment. Please complete it before you come.
01 / Do this first
Your medical questionnaire
- Your questionnaire is unique to your booking. It was emailed to you when you booked, so please complete that one.
- Check your inbox, and your spam or junk folder, as it can land there.
- We are unable to carry out your tests until it is complete, so please do it in good time.
- Cannot find it? Contact us and we will resend your link.
02 / What we measure
Two tests that answer each other.
Most tools use algorithms and population averages. These two measure directly. The DEXA tells you what your body is made of, the VO2 Max tells you what it can do.
DEXA body composition
A clinical-grade scan that separates your body into fat, lean muscle and bone, region by region. It measures bone density, visceral fat around your organs, and muscle by region.
You lie still on a flatbed scanner. A non-invasive ten minute scan.
VO2 Max
The gold-standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness and a leading marker of longevity. It gives you your VO2 max, your personal training zones, and your fat max zone.
A guided, incremental effort up to your maximum, fully supervised. You are in control of this test, and it ends when you need to stop or when you reach your limit.
Bone density
Your bone mineral density against reference ranges, so low bone density is identified early rather than after a fracture.
Visceral fat
The fat stored around your organs, which carries the cardiometabolic risk. It is invisible from the outside and invisible on a scale.
Lean muscle, region by region
Muscle mass in each arm and each leg separately, which shows imbalances and catches accelerated decline early.
Your training zones
Personalised heart-rate zones from your own gas exchange, so you know exactly what easy and hard mean for you, plus the intensity where you burn fat most efficiently.
03 / The visit
How your testing is structured.
The order is deliberate. The DEXA has to happen before any exertion, so the scan comes first and the VO2 Max test always comes last.
Watch: what to expect at your DEXA scan.
Arrival and welcome
We sit down with you first to understand your goals and your reasons for testing. That conversation is what lets us get the most out of both tests for you.
Consent form
We take you through your consent form and answer anything you want to ask before we start.
Your DEXA scan
You lie still on a flatbed scanner while the arm passes over you. A non-invasive scan, and nothing touches you at any point.
VO2 Max test
We take you through your safety briefing, then fit your heart-rate strap. A warm-up, then a treadmill protocol built for your profile: you walk, then run, to your limit. We capture your recovery data in the minutes afterwards too.
Final questions and departure
We share your preliminary VO2 max figure, answer anything left over, and confirm when your results will land, which is within 2 working days.
The gap between your scan and the treadmill is your refuel window. Bring a fast carb snack for it, and see the food timeline below.
04 / On site
Where each test happens.
Your visit runs across two spaces at the same venue.
DEXA
Inside the TELOMYX mobile clinic
Our mobile clinic is parked at your venue, usually just outside the partner location. It is private, and it is only you and your TELOMYX practitioner inside.
VO2 Max
Inside the partner location, on a treadmill
The maximal test needs a full-size treadmill, so it takes place inside the partner location. You are fully supervised from start to finish and in control the whole time.
Your practitioner walks you across from the clinic and sets everything up with you.
Arriving
Wait in the partner location's reception, just outside the mobile clinic, or in your vehicle, whichever feels most comfortable. There is no need to knock on the clinic door, as we may be testing another client. A member of the TELOMYX team will come out and greet you.
Your location and parking
These vary by venue, so your confirmation email carries your specific address, parking and check-in details. Please read it before you set off.
A note on privacy
Your VO2 Max test may take place in an open, working partner location rather than a private room. It is still fully supervised and your results stay completely confidential. You may simply be testing alongside other members. Prefer a quieter slot? Just let us know.
Arrive calm
Walk or drive in gently and give yourself a few spare minutes. Do not cycle or run to the venue, as the scan needs you rested.
05 / Preparation
Fasted for the scan, fuelled for the test.
These two tests want opposite things. The DEXA reads cleanest when you are not digesting a meal. The VO2 Max is a maximal effort, and running it on empty means you stop because you have run out of fuel rather than because you have found your limit. The timeline below gives both of them what they need.
Your main meal
Five to six hours before your appointment, eat a solid, high-carbohydrate, low-fat meal. Porridge with banana and honey, toast with jam, or a bagel. Avoid heavy, fatty or high-protein meals, which sit in the stomach far longer and will still be there when we scan you.
Stop eating
All solid food, snacks and calorie drinks stop four hours before your appointment. That window is what gives us a clean scan.
Water only
Sip water steadily through the fast. Do not drink a large amount in the last half hour, as a full bladder and a stomach full of water both skew the lean mass reading. Empty your bladder shortly before you come in.
Refuel
The moment you are off the scanner, take fast carbohydrate: a sports drink, jelly sweets, a white bagel or a banana. Twenty to thirty grams is plenty. Your fast has done its job by this point.
The treadmill
By the time you start running, your blood glucose is topped up and your stomach is not full. That is the state you want for a true maximal effort.
Whatever times your appointment falls at, keep these gaps the same. Repeating the same pattern is what makes your next visit comparable to this one.
Steady the week
The days before- Sleep and hydrate normally, and prioritise good sleep the night before. Fatigue shows up in your VO2 result.
- Keep your carbohydrate intake consistent. Every gram of stored glycogen binds three to four grams of water, which can inflate a lean mass reading by kilograms.
- No calcium supplements for 24 hours beforehand, as they can interfere with bone density readings.
Back off
24 hours before- No hard or strenuous training, especially resistance work. You want fresh legs for a maximal effort, and rested muscle for an accurate scan.
- No alcohol.
- No high-salt food, which encourages fluid retention.
Arrive ready
On the day- No caffeine at all on the day: coffee, tea, energy drinks, pre-workout. A morning coffee still shows in your heart rate during an afternoon test, so skip it rather than counting hours. Where you safely can, skip cold and flu remedies too.
- Keep your morning easy. No training, no long walks, no stressful dash to get here. You are protecting the fuel from your main meal and arriving rested.
- Bring trainers, water, and your fast carb snack for straight after the scan.
- If you are feeling ill on the day, please let us know and we will reschedule. Being unwell affects the accuracy of your VO2 Max result.
06 / Kit
What to wear and bring.
The two tests want different clothing, so bring both and change in between. There is time built in, and the mobile clinic gives you somewhere private to do it.
For your scan
Loose, comfortable, no metal
Loose clothing with no metal in it. No zips, buttons or underwired bras, and avoid heavily elasticated fabric, which distorts the image.
Metal in clothing produces scan artifacts and can increase your bone density readings, so jewellery and watches off too, please.
Metal inside your body is not a problem. The scan will not heat an implant and carries no risk. Just tell us it is there.
For your VO2 Max test
Proper sports kit and trainers
Change into the kit you would normally train in, with the support you would normally wear. A sports bra is fine here, and you will be more comfortable for a maximal effort in proper kit than in whatever you wore for the scan.
Running trainers rather than casual shoes, as you will be on a treadmill at full effort.
Tie long hair up so the mask can seal properly.
Changing between the two
Just say the word. We will give you the time and the space, and it is a much better experience than trying to find one outfit that suits both.
Also bring
A water bottle, a small towel, your fast carb snack for straight after the scan, and your inhaler if you use one.
07 / Safety
Please tell us if.
Your safety comes first, and the VO2 Max test is a maximal effort. Let us know before or on the day if any of these apply to you.
- You feel unwell or have any infection. If you wake up ill, contact us to reschedule rather than push through.
- You are carrying an injury.
- You take beta-blockers or any heart or blood-pressure medication. Never stop taking medication, just tell us, as it affects your heart-rate response.
- You have a heart condition or any history of chest pain.
- You are pregnant, or think you might be.
- You have any metal implants or breast implants, as both can affect your bone density readings. We can still scan you, we simply need to know.
- You have had a recent scan using contrast dye or a nuclear medicine study.
- Anything else has changed since you completed your questionnaire.
08 / Afterwards
What you walk away with.
Before you leave
Your preliminary VO2 max figure, a clear understanding of what we have measured, and when you will get your results.
Within 2 working days
Your full reports for both tests by email, with every metric explained and personalised recommendations written for your goals.
- Body composition and body fat percentage. Clinically measured, not estimated from a handheld device or a set of scales.
- DEXA. Bone density, visceral fat and muscle mass, mapped region by region. What your bathroom scale cannot tell you.
- VO2 Max. Your aerobic engine measured, an established longevity marker, plus training zones and a fat max zone you can put straight to work.
- The two together. Training zones set against your actual lean mass, so the work you do is matched to the body doing it.
09 / Repeat testing
Tracking over time? Consistency is everything.
A DEXA scan measures your body exactly as it is presented on the day, and lean mass and total weight are sensitive to hydration, glycogen and stomach contents. Your VO2 result moves with sleep, caffeine and fatigue. Ensuring consistency is key to accurate longitudinal monitoring.
Make your next visit comparable
Book a similar time of day each time, and keep the same fasting window. Repeat your nutrition, hydration, training and sleep in the 48 hours beforehand as closely as you can.
Follow the same protocol every time and a change in your numbers means a real change in you, rather than a difference in how you arrived.
Questions before the day?
Reply to your confirmation email. Your confirmation email also carries your specific location, address and arrival details, along with your medical questionnaire link.
TELOMYX / Data, not guesswork