You can’t outrun a bad diet, they say. But maybe you can? Well, sort of.
A study published in the journal Nature Metabolism in September 2024 suggests that one kind of belly fat might be healthier than others: the kind that exists in people who exercise regularly. (1)
The Details
The study’s research team discovered that people with obesity who regularly do aerobic exercise have healthier belly fat tissue than those who are obese and more sedentary.
- The study included 32 people, 16 men and 16 women, who were either overweight or obese. Half the participants regularly exercised at least four times a week for the last two years, although the average amount of regular exercise among them was 11 years. The other half of the participants lived sedentary lives.
Fat tissue samples were taken from each participant’s bellies to measure the amount of blood flow in their tissue and the rigidity and fibrousness of their fat cells. Researchers also examined markers of inflammation.
The Result
Those who exercised were found to have structural changes in their belly fat, also called adipose tissue, which lowers the risk of developing heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Further, the exercisers were found to have less rigid and fibrous tissues, which makes it easier for fat cells beneath the skin to store fat.
- This might not sound positive, however, it’s preferable to inflexible, fibrous fat tissue, because if you gain weight and your fat cells are fibrous, your body has a harder time storing it in subcutaneous fat cells. Instead, it gets stored as visceral fat deep in the belly, closer to your organs, thus making it more dangerous as fat near your organs has been linked to heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
The Big Picture
I have coached CrossFit for 15 years, and one key lesson I have learned is that getting people to commit to the gym is the easy part.
- Getting them to change their diets and body composition is the more seemingly impossible challenge.
And when I speak with other coaches, they always agree. Put bluntly, we all have overweight clients who train three or four days a week for a decade and never lose a pound.
If this study’s findings are correct, I feel a lot better about my coaching role for the past decade and a half. Even though some of my clients still aren’t dialing in their nutrition, they might still be reaping serious health benefits, showing up to the gym month after month, year after year.
References
- Ahn, C., Zhang, T., Yang, G. et al. Years of endurance exercise training remodel abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue in adults with overweight or obesity. Nat Metab 6, 1819–1836 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01103-x
Featured Image: Rick Barrett / Unsplash
