In our study, the control group that did not exercise saw a sizable and significant 8.6 percent increase in visceral fat in only six months.

In my opinion, you either realize that exercise is really good for you and you make it a No. 1 priority, or you don't.

We also found that a modest exercise program equivalent to a brisk 30-minute walk six times a week can prevent accumulation of visceral fat, while even more exercise can actually reverse the amount of visceral fat.

I'm almost convinced that dieting is totally useless.

We believe that these results shine a clear spotlight on the high costs Americans are paying for their continued inactivity. I don't believe that people in general have gotten lazier -- it's more that they are working too hard or are at their desks working on computers with fewer opportunities for exercise. The situation is out of balance.

You want to have a highly competent control team, not just operationally but technologically, that can set up the exercise and devise the scenarios while keeping the normal group completely in the dark about what's going on. That independence ensures that the emergency team is not over-prepared and ready with all the right answers. You want them to be surprised because that's how it could be during the real event.