ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Physical Activity in the Prevention and Management of Disease
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1583432
This article is part of the Research TopicCardiovascular Responses to Exercise: Clinical and Pathological Perspectives in AthletesView all 5 articles
The relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and indices of fat mass and fat-free mass in adults
Provisionally accepted
- 1Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, United States
- 2Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Purpose: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) independently predicts cardiovascular disease risk and mortality. In addition, body composition levels characterized by excess adiposity (fat mass [FM]) and low levels of fat-free mass (FFM) are strongly associated with poor health status. The relationship between CRF and body composition, especially indices adjusted for height [fat mass index (FMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI)] has not been well established in otherwise healthy adults. Methods: A sample (n=82) of adults completed measures for body composition using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and estimated V̇O2max by way of an Åstrand-Rhyming submaximal cycle ergometer test. Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured using a SenseWear Armband activity monitor. The associations between body composition (FMI, FFMI), and CRF were examined using multiple linear regression models adjusting for sex (model 1) and TDEE (model 2). Results: Participants were young (age: 24 9 yr), 64% female, with a BMI of 25.44.9 kg∙m-2. The mean absolute and relative estimated V̇O2max were 3.02 ± 1.0 L∙min-1 and 42.1 12.2 ml∙kg-1∙min-1, respectively. FMI was negatively associated CRF (L∙min-1) in model 2 (B= -0.106, 95%CI -0.16, -0.05, p<0.001) but not model 1 (B= -0.011, 95%CI -0.03, 0.01, p=0.271). FFMI was positively associated with CRF (L∙min-1) (model 1: B= 0.087, 95%CI 0.03, 0.14), p=0.004) but not after adjusting for TDEE (model 2: B= 0.026, 95%CI -0.07, 0.12, p=0.585). Conclusion: FM adjusted for height (FMI), but fat-free mass (FFMI), is negatively associated with cardiorespiratory fitness in adults.
Keywords: aerobic fitness, Body Composition, body fat, LEAN MASS, physical activity
Received: 25 Feb 2025; Accepted: 03 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Popp and Jesch. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Collin J. Popp, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.