Cardiorespiratory fitness is strongly linked to metabolic syndrome among physical fitness components: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Maintaining a good level of physical fitness from engaging in regular exercise is important for the treatment and prevention of metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, which components constitutive of physical fitness confer the greatest influence remains controversial. This retrospective cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between MetS and physical fitness components including cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, flexibility, and agility and to identify which physical fitness components have the largest influence on MetS. Methods A total of 168 Japanese adult males aged 25–64 years were allocated into non-MetS, pre-MetS, and MetS groups according to the criteria recommended by the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine. Anthropometric measurement of body composition by whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and measures related to MetS, including waist circumference, triglyceride level, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, blood pressure, glucose level, and physical fitness components, were assessed. For evaluation of cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, flexibility, agility, and balance, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and oxygen uptake at anaerobic threshold (VO2AnT), handgrip strength and vertical jumping, trunk extension and flexion, stepping side to side, and single-leg balance task with the eyes closed were assessed, respectively. Results A progressive tendency of increasing body weight, body mass index, whole-body lean and fat mass, percentage of whole-body fat mass, trunk lean and fat mass, percentage of trunk fat mass, arm fat mass, waist circumference, triglyceride level, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and blood glucose level from the non-MetS group to the MetS group was significant (P < 0.05). Conversely, the cardiorespiratory endurance parameters VO2peak and VO2AnT and the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level showed a progressively decreasing tendency across the groups (P < 0.01). In addition, a VO2peak below 29.84 ml·kg·min−1 (P = 0.028) and VO2AnT below 15.89 ml·kg·min−1 (P = 0.011) were significant risk components for pre-MetS and MetS. However, there was no significant tendency with respect to muscle strength, agility, and flexibility. Conclusion Cardiorespiratory fitness is strongly linked to metabolic syndrome among physical fitness components

Sex Differences in the Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome Based on Leg Strength, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Skeletal Muscle Mass in Elderly

“…One of the main findings of this study was that low CRF increased the ORs for MetS up to 3.5 and 3.7 times in men and women, respectively. These results are in agreement with those of previous studies [26,27]. In a meta-analysis of 33 studies, an increase in CRF by 3.5 mL/kg/min decreased mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular disease by 13% and 15%, respectively [28].…”

“…In addition, the prevalence of MetS was 5.4% in men with high CRF and 13.9% in those with low CRF [27]. In a subsequent analysis with CRF in which the risk for MetS was evaluated per quartile, it was found that the lowest quartile group exhibited a 3.6-fold higher risk than the highest quartile group [26]. A representative strategy to improve CRF is to continuously perform moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.…”

Triglyceride–Glucose Index as a Potential Indicator of Sarcopenic Obesity in Older People

“…The Mann–Whitney U test was used for non-normally distributed data that were verified by utilizing Levene’s test for equality of variances. The Jonckheere–Terpstra test was used to identify trends in parameters among the three groups (two-tailed) [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. This test generated standardized statistics that represented the strength of trends in parameters that increased or decreased across groups [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”

“…The Jonckheere–Terpstra test was used to identify trends in parameters among the three groups (two-tailed) [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. This test generated standardized statistics that represented the strength of trends in parameters that increased or decreased across groups [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Logistic regression was employed to evaluate the relationships of the TyG index, which was an independent parameter, with obesity, sarcopenia, and sarcopenic obesity, which were dependent parameters.…”

Use of the Visceral Adiposity Index as an Indicator of Chronic Kidney Disease in Older Adults: Comparison with Body Mass Index

“…Data that were not normally distributed were compared between groups using the Mann–Whitney U test. The Jonckheere–Terpstra test (two-tailed) was utilized to generate standardized statistics allowing comparison of trends among the three groups [ 19 , 29 , 33 , 34 ]. p -values < 0.05 were considered significant in these analyses.…”