Exercise does not change high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in women after ten weeks of training

Effects of a 10 wk, three times per wk individualized bicycle ergometer training program were investigated in 16 healthy sedentary women 19-29 yr-old who were not taking oral contraceptives or other medications. Twelve women were in an interval type program, 6 in a continuous program, all performing 30 min exercise per session at 70% maximum heart rate reserve. Conditioning responses did not differ between the training regimens. Training produced increases in maximum oxygen uptake and physical work capacity. Percent body fat determined by underwater weighing was significantly reduced as was resting heart rate, after the training program. Maximum heart rate was unchanged. Despite changes in "fitness" variables, post-training values of high density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides did not differ from pretraining. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol was significantly reduced at 2 and 5 wk of training and returned to control levels at 10 wk. Exercise conditioning leading to improved physical fitness in healthy women may not be associated with increments in high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.