I didn't do much strength-training in high school; my involvement with basketball, volleyball, and marching band (plus general naiveté about how awesome lifting is) meant that most of my exercise was cardio-based. It wasn't until junior year at MIT that I got seriously about lifting—first, during the fall, with dumbbells and weighted machines, and then, in the spring, with a barbell (mostly deadlifts and squats).

This past summer, I lived near campus since my internship was at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research close by, so I resolved to take advantage of our fantastic facilities at the Zesiger Sports & Fitness Center. I committed to the StrongLifts 5x5 routine, and I haven't looked back since! I've taken a week or two off occasionally (we'll just call them deload weeks ok), due to being busy with job interviews & dance team prod weeks (read: Hell Weeks), but StrongLifts is a simple regime that I enjoy, so I've stuck to it for the past 10 months, more or less. I've progressed slower than the program recommends since I'm tryna avoid aggravating my lower back injury from November (psa: don't resume deadlifting the weight you last pulled after two weeks off), but I'm still seeing results. I use the Strong app, which has a built-in rest timer, to track my A & B workout days and it's fantastic—one less thing to think about when I put my earbuds in. Currently, my squat/deadlift/bench numbers are 145/171/85 for 5x5 (i.e. 5 sets of 5 reps each).

This morning, I got a body composition analysis at the Z to see where I'm at fitness-wise. I learned about DEXA scans from r/fitness and r/xxfitness (geared toward females) but didn't want to shell out $200 for a scan at the only vendor in Boston (Cenegenics), so the Z's InBody570 scans were my next best bet. I've taken the past two weeks off from lifting since I've been so busy with end-of-term dance showcases + final projects. I also ended my 4 month streak of tracking calories on MyFitnessPal, but I was still pleasantly surprised with my results:

All good news: my left and right limbs are relatively symmetrical (my left lower back injury annoys me from time to time, but not progressing in weights too quickly has helped a lot), I've got low visceral fat (aka fat that surrounds my internal organs in my abdomen), and my lean muscle mass for each limb is over 100%, meaning that I've developed more than enough LMM to sustain my own weight. MyBodyStats provides a breakdown of what info I can gather from each section (it's the same as scanning the QR code on the bottom right of the sheet).

What surprised me most was my body fat percentage. I weigh myself at home at least once a week with a digital scale that uses bioelectrical impedance, and it usually puts me at 120-124 lbs, 22-23% body fat (my weight fluctuates~5 pounds over the course of a single day). This morning, with the InBody570 scanner, I clocked in at 123.7lb (my clothes probably added half a pound) and 18.4% bf! One caveat: InBody's site says that body fat measurements can vary +/- 2% under the same conditions, and I didn't repeat my test this morning. But seeing as my scale costs about $30 and the InBody machine retails for $1000, I'm more inclined to believe the numbers on the sheet. The next time I get a scan (probably some time in the fall), I'll ask for a retest to see how much my results vary within the same appointment. I'll shell out for a DEXA scan eventually, perhaps once I start my full-time job in September :)