Research
Adherence
Higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is independently associated with more favorable left ventricular contractility (lower Ecc), independent of visceral fat levels and other risk factors.
Prioritize improving your cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) through structured aerobic exercise, not just general daily movement. Higher fitness protects heart muscle function independently of how much belly fat you have.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Higher CRF was significantly associated with lower Ecc suggesting more favorable contractility independent of CVD risk factors, other echo parameters, regional fat depots, and overall lean mass
Why this rating
Large cohort, robust adjustment, but cross-sectional.
Source
Regional adiposity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and left ventricular strain: an analysis from the Dallas Heart Study
Nitin Kondamudi et al. · Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance · 2021
DOI 10.1186/s12968-021-00757-w
cross_sectional · n=1089Cited 11×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Higher visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is independently associated with greater impairment in left ventricular peak circumferential strain (Ecc), indicating reduced myocardial contractility, regardless of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) or other regional fat depots.Good
- Lower-body fat (LBF) is associated with more favorable left ventricular contractility, potentially acting as a metabolic sink that protects against ectopic fat deposition.Moderate
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →