EFFECTS OF EXERCISE TRAINING INTENSITY AND AMOUNT ON VISCERAL, SUBCUTANEOUS AND TOTAL ABDOMINAL FAT

Abstract

Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is significantly associated with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and CVD. PURPOSE to determine the effects of different amounts and different intensities of exercise training on VAT. METHODS 111 sedentary overweight (BMI 25–35) men and women (40–65 yrs) were randomly assigned to control or one of three exercise groups: 1) kcal equivalent to ∼12 miles walking/wk, 2) equivalent to ∼12 jogging/wk, 3) equivalent to ∼20 miles jogging/wk. Training duration was ∼8 months. Abdominal CT scans at L-4 were obtained pre and post training. Subjects were encouraged to maintain body weight. See STRRIDE methods paper in MSSE 33:1774–84, 2001 for detailed methods. RESULTS The Controls gained 1.1 kg body weight and increased VAT by 10%; 12-WALK lost 1.3 kg body wt and only gained 3.3%* VAT; 12-JOG lost 1.1 kg body wt and decreased VAT by 5.9%*** and 20-JOG lost 3.5 kg body wt and decreased VAT by 10% ***. Subcutaneous abdominal fat changed very little in the all groups except the 20-JOG which lost 7.6%**. Total Abd Fat Chg(%) was: 4.7, +1.9, −3.0** and −8.9*** respectively. Sign diff from control *P < 0.5, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. CONCLUSION Continued physical inactivity in overweight subjects led to an unexpectedly large increase in VAT accumulation in a short period of time. Interestingly, exercise intensity appeared to have a very strong effect on VAT, as the 12-JOG group did the same amount of activity as 12-WALK, but had a significantly greater improvement in VAT. Finally, the biggest improvements in VAT, SAT and total abdominal fat, were in the high dose group (20-JOG). Clearly some exercise is good, more exercise is better. Also, vigorous activity may be particularly important for decreasing VAT. Finally, physical inactivity in overweight subjects appears to be especially detrimental.