Now comes the American College of Sports Medicine to give us that consensus winner: For the second year in a row, we are told, Washington, D. C. is where fitness reigns among metro areas in America.

In its American Fitness Index, ACSM uses a complex formula for its ranking — as does every other ranker of fittest, fattest, healthiest, etc. 

Cutting to the chase, on this year's list, the D.C. metro area has a comfortable edge over its closest rival — and 2013 winner — Minneapolis-St. Paul. (This year, San Diego tied with Minneapolis for No. 2.)

Without further ado, we present the top 10 fittest cities in America, as brought to you by ACSM:

Metro area           Score (of 100 possible points)

1. Washington, D.C.  -  79.6

2. Minneapolis-St. Paul  – 75.6

3. San Diego  -  75.6

4. San Francisco (Bay area)  -  72.6

5. Sacramento  – 71.4

6. Denver (there it is!)  –   71.1

7. Portland, OR  -  69.67

8. Seattle  -  68.5

9. Boston  -  68.1

10. San Jose   -  65.9

The South is apparently home to many who find fitness an annoyance, distracting them from enjoying life. For the bottom 10, we have the following:                                                 

• Indianapolis

• Memphis

• Oklahoma City

• San Antonio

• Louisville

• Nashville

• Birmingham

• Charlotte

• New Orleans

• Dallas-Fort Worth

And smack dab in the middle, tied for No. 25, we find Cleveland and Kansas City, Mo.

For comparison's sake, the 2014 fittest city list authored by Men's Fitness magazine wasn't much different from ACSM's list when it came to the top 10. Men's Fitness included Atlanta, which only made it to No. 14 on the ACSM list, and Sacramento placed No. 20 with Men's Fitness.

ACSM's list was part of a large report that finely slices and dices the details of each city's fitness rating. You can access the report at the ACSM site.