Aerobic exercise is your best bet when it comes to devising a programme for a club member or client who wants to shed the dreaded belly fat.

According to a new study by Duke University Medical Center in the US, aerobic training significantly reduced visceral fat and liver fat, the culprit in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Visceral fat is located deep within the abdominal cavity and fills the spaces between internal organs. It's been associated with increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, and certain kinds of cancer.

Researchers conducted a head-to-head comparison of aerobic exercise, resistance training, and a combination of the two, they found aerobic exercise to be the most efficient and most effective way to lose the belly fat that's most damaging to health.

The eight-month study followed 196 overweight, sedentary adults (ages 18 to 70) who were randomized to one of three groups: aerobic training; resistance training or a combination of the two.

The aerobic group performed exercises equivalent to 12 miles of jogging per week at 80-percent maximum heart rate. The resistance group performed three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions three times per week. All programs were closely supervised and monitored to ensure maximum effort in participation.

Aerobic training burned 67 percent more calories in the study when compared to resistance training.

Cris Slentz, exercise physiologist and lead author of the study, said: "When it comes to increased health risks, where fat is deposited in the body is more important than how much fat you have.

"But if you are overweight, which two-thirds of the population is, and you want to lose belly fat, aerobic exercise is the better choice because it burns more calories."

The findings of the report were published in the most recent issue of American Journal of Physiology.