Figure 1.
Flow sheet of patients, intervention and analysis.
Flow sheet of enrolled patients, intervention and analysis of data. IMCL = intramyocellular lipids.
Figure 2.
The clinical protocol included three visits and two periods. Period 1: weight maintaining diet, period 2: no physical activity, high fat diet (as additional fat snacks, 0.75 g fat/kgBW for 1.5 days prior to visit 3). Visit 1 Spiroergometry (calculation of 50% VO2max, trial on the treadmill). Visit 2 Two-step hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp using stable isotope technique. Visit 3 Assessment of intramyocellular (IMCL) and intrahepatocellular lipids (IHCL) before and after two hours aerobic exercise at 50% VO2max. Measurements of subcutaneous and visceral fat mass using MRI imaging.
Figure 3.
Effect of aerobic exercise on intramyocellular (IMCL) and intrahepatocellular lipids (IHCL).
Figure 3a Individual IMCL and IHCL measurements before (pre) and after (post) a 2h-aerobic exercise at 50% VO2max of each subject. A significant decrease in IMCL (p<0.005) and a significant increase in IHCL (p<0.002) was documented. The diagram on the far right is a blow up of the IHCL data depicted in the middle part to show the changes in IHCL for volunteers with low IHCL levels. Figure 3b Changes (mean ± 1 SEM) of IMCL and IHCL (in % from baseline) following a 2h-aerobic exercise at 50% VO2max.
Figure 4.
Effect of aerobic exercise on serum free fatty acid concentrations.
Individual (left) and overall (mean ± 1 SEM) levels of circulating FFA during the course of the 2 h-aerobic exercise at 50% VO2max.
Table 1.
Clinical parameters, body composition and fat availability, exercise parameters, insulin sensitivity and MR-spectroscopy data in endurance trained athletes.