Effects of aerobic training on fat distribution in male subjects

To investigate the effects of aerobic training on adipose tissue morphology and fat distribution, several indicators of body fatness (percent body fat, seven subcutaneous skinfolds, fat cell weight) were assessed in 13 sedentary male subjects (SS) submitted to a 20-wk aerobic training program and in 20 male long-distance runners (LDR). The LDR subjects had a mean +/- SD VO2max of 65.9 +/- 6.5 ml . min-1 . kg-1 and averaged 120 km . wk-1. Training increased the VO2max values of the SS group significantly (pre: 41.9 +/- 7.0 vs post: 53.4 +/- 6.4 ml . kg-1 . min-1; P less than 0.001) and decreased significantly percent body fat (P less than 0.01), sum of skinfolds (P less than 0.01), and fat cell weight (P less than 0.05). Trunk skinfolds were more altered by training than extremity skinfolds, with reductions of 22 and 12.5%, respectively. Significant correlations were found between fat cell weight and percent body fat in SS before and after training (r = 0.75; P less than 0.01), while no significant relationship was noted in the LDR group. Moreover, using the sum of skinfolds divided by percent fat or by fat mass to reflect the proportion of subcutaneous fat to total fat, the LDR subjects exhibited less subcutaneous fat than the SS group (P less than 0.01) and training did not alter these ratios in the SS group. These results suggest that 20 wk of aerobic training can alter body fatness in men but that the induced fat loss does not seem to deplete preferentially subcutaneous fat.