Association between muscular strength and metabolic risk in Japanese women, but not in men

We examined whether cardiorespiratory fitness (maximal oxygen uptake, V̇ O₂max) and muscular strength (grip strength) are associated with individual and clustered metabolic risk factors independently of abdominal adiposity in Japanese men (n=110) and women (n=110) aged 20-69 years. Blood pressure, triglycerides (TG), HDL cholesterol, and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) were assessed and metabolic risk score was calculated, which is the sum of the z scores for each individual risk factor. Waist circumference was measured and the area of visceral fat was assessed by MRI. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that VO₂max was inversely associated with TG in men (p<0.05) and grip strength was negatively associated with FPG and metabolic risk score in women (p<0.001 and p<0.05, respectively), independently of waist circumference. Adjusting for visceral fat instead of waist circumference, similar results were obtained in women (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively), but the association between VO₂max and TG in men was attenuated to nonsignificant. This cross-sectional study demonstrates that muscular strength is inversely associated with plasma glucose levels and clustered metabolic risk factors independently of abdominal adiposity in Japanese women, but not in men.