Adipose tissue, once considered inert connective tissue, is an essential storage site for key substrates used as sources of energy. In recent years, cellular and molecular biologists have advanced the concept that adipocytes are not solely a cellular storage location for excess fuel. Rather, adipose tissue is an active secretory organ that synthesizes and releases a number of bioactive proteins that influence energy and substrate metabolism throughout the body via endocrine, paracrine, and/or autocrine actions.

Despite adipose tissue's important role in providing fuel for exercise and its newly recognized role as an endocrine organ, exercise-induced adaptations in adipose tissue are far less familiar than those in skeletal muscle. An informative and comprehensive resource, Endurance Exercise and Adipose Tissue summarizes all of the latest research results regarding the role that endurance exercise plays in determining adipose tissue metabolism, body fat mass, and body fat distribution.

Written by leading scientific researchers, the book begins by examining the effects of endurance exercise on the primary metabolic functions of adipocytes, including the effects of both a single exercise bout and endurance exercise training. Then it summarizes the effects of endurance exercise on the endocrine/paracrine properties of adipose tissue. Finally, the book examines the evolving research on the effects of endurance exercise on adipose tissue mass and body fat distribution.