Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with lower abdominal fat independent of body mass index.

Purpose: To determine whether, for a given body mass index (BMI), men with high cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) have lower waist circumference (WC) and less total abdominal, abdominal subcutaneous, and visceral adipose tissue (AT) compared with men with low CRF.

Methods: Subjects were categorized into HIGH CRF (N = 169) and LOW CRF (N = 124) groups based on age and CRF measured using a maximal treadmill test. Total abdominal, abdominal subcutaneous and visceral AT were measured by computerized tomography.