Acute effects of resistance exercise on parameters of lipoprotein metabolism

Ten healthy, trained males (25.4 +/- 3.1 yr) were studied before and after 90 min of resistance exercise to determine the acute effects of high volume (HV) and low volume (LV) sessions on alterations in lipid and lipoprotein concentrations as well as the activity of lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT). The HV session involved the use of 8-12 repetition maximum (RM) loads performed to exhaustion with 60 s rest intervals between sets, while the LV session involved the use of 1-5RM loads with 3 min rest intervals between sets. Fasting blood samples were drawn from an antecubital vein immediately before and after exercise as well as 24, 48, and 72 h post-exercise. Following adjustment for changes in plasma volume, significant changes were only found following the HV session. These included increases in HDL-C (11%) and HDL3-C (12%) 24 h post-exercise. Modifications in HDL-C were significantly different from both the LV and control sessions. In contrast, triglycerides and LCAT were significantly depressed 24 h post-exercise following the HV session when compared with immediate post-exercise values. There were no significant changes in either total cholesterol or HDL2-C at any time. The results of this study suggest that the potential of resistance exercise to affect acute modifications in the lipoprotein profile resides in the volume of exercise performed.