The effects of vigorous physical activity on intra-abdominal fat levels: a preliminary study of middle-aged Japanese men.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the effects of vigorous physical activity (PA) on intra-abdominal fat (IF) levels in obese men.


METHODS
Thirty-seven obese men (mean age: 47.6+/-8.6 years) engaged in a 12-week aerobic exercise program on a regular basis (3 days/week). We divided them into low volume of vigorous PA group (n=19) or high volume of vigorous PA group (n=18), based on the median time spent (34.3min/week) in vigorous PA (over 6.1 metabolic equivalents assessed by a single-axis accelerometer) throughout the program.


RESULTS
Regular exercise reduced IF levels (measured by computed tomography) from 188.1+/-53.9cm(2) to 170.3+/-46.6cm(2) for the low volume of vigorous PA group and from 167.9+/-44.3cm(2) to 137.9+/-40.6cm(2) for the high volume of vigorous PA group. Two-way (time x group) ANOVA revealed no significant interactions for the IF level. However, correlation analysis for all participants showed that time spent in vigorous PA throughout the program significantly correlated to IF reductions after adjusting for initial levels of IF, vigorous PA and weight changes (r=-0.42, P=0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that vigorous PA may affect IF reductions in obese men.
Sasai
Hiroyuki
H
Doctoral Program in Sports Medicine, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. sasai@stat.taiiku.tsukuba.ac.jp
Katayama
Yasutomi
Y
Nakata
Yoshio
Y
Eto
Miki
M
Tsujimoto
Takehiko
T
Ohkubo
Hiroyuki
H
Tanaka
Kiyoji
K
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D044466:Asian People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects