We followed a selected sample of 22 healthy older men and women to determine the impact of a 6-month randomized placebo-controlled aerobic training program on changes in abdominal fat and serum lipid concentrations. Both the training and control groups exercised 3 times a week for 50 min sessions. Training induced no changes in peak aerobic power or overall abdominal adiposity in either group. However, significant decreases in total and LDL cholesterol and triglycerides occurred in the training group whereas variables tended to increase in the control group. Our data suggest that endurance training has a favorable effect on lipid metabolism in healthy older people, independent of changes in abdominal adiposity or level of aerobic fitness. Future plans include the measurement of training-induced changes in glucose regulation in this same population.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter