Effects of Interval Training on Visceral Adipose Tissue in Centrally Obese 70‐Year‐Old Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of 10 weeks of progressive vigorous‐intensity interval training as a single intervention on body composition among 70‐year‐old individuals with central obesity. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial (http://clinicaltrials.gov registration No. NCT03450655). SETTING Community‐dwelling 70‐year‐old men and women living in the Umeå municipality in Sweden. PARTICIPANTS Seventy‐seven 70‐year‐old men and women with central obesity (greater than 1 kg visceral adipose tissue [VAT] for women and greater than 2 kg VAT for men). INTERVENTION Participants allocated to the intervention group were offered a 10‐week progressive concurrent exercise program performed three times per week. All participants in both groups had received tailored lifestyle recommendations focused on diet and physical activity at one occasion within 12 months prior to trial initiation. MEASUREMENTS The primary outcome was changes in VAT, and secondary outcomes included changes in total fat mass (FM), total lean body mass (LBM), and body mass index. RESULTS Comparing the groups, there were no significant differences in decrease of VAT mass (P = .10), although the intervention group significantly decreased FM by 716 g (P = .01) and gained LBM by 508 g (P = .03), compared to the control group. Furthermore, the effects of the training were significantly greater in the male subcohort (P < .05 for interaction), with positive effects also on VAT and FM, where men in the intervention group decreased VAT by 175 g (P < .05) and FM by 1364 g (P = .004), compared to the male controls. CONCLUSIONS The present trial demonstrates that 10 weeks of progressive vigorous interval training is sufficient to significantly decrease FM in older adults with central obesity, with positive effects also on LBM. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:1625–1631, 2019

Web-based exercise versus supervised exercise for decreasing visceral adipose tissue in older adults with central obesity: a randomized controlled trial

“…Given the inconsistent results, additional randomized controlled trials including older adults with hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia are required in order to establish the effectiveness of WE on cardiometabolic blood markers in older adults. In terms of feasibility, we observed a high adherence to WE (85%), which is similar to the adherence to the SE intervention [27]. This resemblance is supported by the findings from a recent systematic review [46] and may have several explanations.…”

“…When considering the present findings in relation to previous research, a study by Wijsman and colleagues observed a somewhat larger decrease in BFP following their webbased intervention [26]. However, it should be taken into consideration that the WE group in our study had seen some positive effects already during their time as a control group [27]. Given the association between baseline values and the subsequent rate of decrease, as well as decreases being larger in the early phase of interventions [41], the observed decrease in FM and BFP may therefore be slightly underestimated.…”

“…After this initial 10-week phase, both groups underwent follow-up assessment at the research clinic. The 10-week results of the trial have been published previously [27,28]. Next, the wait-list control group underwent a 10-week wash-out period, after which they returned to the research clinic for another reassessment, which served as baseline in the wait-list control group's intervention.…”

“…We have previously shown that 10 weeks of vigorous supervised exercise (SE) improved body composition and cardiometabolic risk markers in older adults with central obesity [27,28]. Against this background, the primary aim of the present study was to investigate whether 10 weeks of vigorous WE is sufficient to decrease VAT in centrally obese older adults, and compare the effects of WE to the effects from the previous SE intervention.…”

Associations of Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Time with the Risk of Stroke, Myocardial Infarction or All-Cause Mortality in 70-Year-Old Men and Women: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…Of interest is that MPA showed a stronger association with CVD or mortality than LPA did, which with the limitation of being an observational study may indicate that higher intensity PA could be more beneficial with respect to prevention of CVD in the older individual. In light of this, it is of interest that in two randomized controlled trials conducted in similar populations, we found that 10 weeks of high-intensity exercise had positive effects on cardiovascular risk factors in 70-year-old men and women [38][39][40].…”