Effect of moderate exercise on serum lipids in young men with low high density lipoprotein cholesterol

Fifty-five healthy, sedentary, nonsmoking, and nonobese 24- to 26-year-old men who had low plasma concentrations of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were selected for a study of the effect of short-term exercise on plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentrations. The participants were randomized into two groups. Of these, 28 were assigned to a 9-week program of submaximal aerobic exercise three times weekly, and 27 were assigned to a nonexercising control group. Changes in physical fitness were assessed by increments in estimated maximal oxygen consumption; this increased by 15% in the exercise group (p less than 0.001) but remained unchanged in the control group. During the study, body weights and skinfold thicknesses of both groups remained essentially unchanged after 9 weeks. There was no significant difference between the trial groups in total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, calculated low density lipoprotein cholesterol, or in the HDL2 and HDL3 subfractions. Triglyceride levels were lower by 19 mg/dl in the exercise group as compared to the control group (p less than 0.05). We conclude that moderate aerobic exercise of 9 weeks duration in the absence of weight loss in young males with initially low HDL cholesterol did not influence their HDL cholesterol levels.