INTRODUCTION: The consequences related to the accumulation of abdominal fat above healthy levels create a considerable organic damage. Among the physiological consequences we can highlight heart diseases, hypertension, type-2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome, which drastically reduce life expectancy and quality. Evidence shows that health improvement is correlated to greater levels of physical activity. However, physical exercise can create oxidative damage on organs and muscular tissue, more relevant in subjects with a high percentage of abdominal fat. This piece of work determines which are the fundamental variables of the exercise program in order to optimize its advantages while minimizing oxidative stress. MAIN PURPOSE: To know the key variables in the accumulation of abdominal fat above healthy levels, and the role of exercise in prevention and improvement of such issue. SPECIFIC PURPOSES: (1) to identify the key variables in an exercise program aimed at reducing abdominal fat; (2) to understand the relationship between abdominal fat, health and exercise; (3) to review the latest research related to physical exercise and its effect on abdominal adipose tissue. METHODOLOGY: A search and identification of original and reviewed articles will be carried out in indexed impact journals within the main databases. DISCUSSION: Regular physical exercise, most notably aerobic one, reduces body adipose tissue deposits in general, and abdominal ones in particular, both in obese and overweight subjects.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help

• DOI
• PubMed
• PDF locator
• publisher