Regular exercise can prevent the accumulation of deep abdominal fat that contributes to diabetes and other metabolic disorders in couch potatoes. Researchers from the Duke University Medical Center in, North Carolina, USA conducted a study on overweight adults with sedentary lifestyle and found that those who started working out on treadmills and stationary bikes tended to lose, or at least not add to, their stores of visceral fat (fat that accumulates around the abdominal organs). However, their peers who remained sedentary showed a substantial gain in visceral fat over 6 months. Although the deep abdominal fat may not make itself apparent in the form of a spare tire, it is linked to a number of ill health effects, including a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease. Recent findings show that even moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, may put the brakes on visceral fat accumulation. Study participants who exercised the most, which was equivalent to jogging 20 miles per week, shed both visceral fat and the superficial layers of abdominal fat that make for love handles. The intensity of the exercise did not seem to matter as much as the amount. Study participants who exercised moderately, which was equivalent to brisk walking for about 3 hours each week did just as well as those who worked out more vigorously for 2 hours a week. Overall, both groups showed no significant gain in abdominal fat. The study group that exercised the hardest - at an intensity level of jogging for 3 hours each week, saw an average decline of 7 percent in both visceral fat and more superficial abdominal fat. In contrast, participants in the fourth group, who maintained their sedentary lifestyle, saw a gain in visceral fat of nearly 9 percent over 6 months. The participants worked out on gym equipment like treadmills and exercise bikes. The findings suggest that inactivity comes at the high cost of rapid fat accumulation, while regular exercise can at least prevent such an increase. But long-term weight maintenance, as opposed to repeated dieting, is a worthy goal. People should exercise now, if they don't want to be 20 pounds heavier in five years. Moderate exercise in this study, that is walking for about 3 hours a week, was enough to prevent fat gain, and it is in line with health officials' advice for all adults to fit in 30 minutes of moderate activity on most, if not all, days.
Journal of Applied Physiology ,
October 2005