title: How exercise affects lipid profiles in women: what to recommend for patients.
abstract: After menopause, women have less favorable lipid profiles than before menopause. While regular exercise improves lipid metabolism in men, the specifics for doing so in pre- and postmenopausal women are not fully understood. Literature review suggests that higher-volume aerobic exercise programs increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in both pre- and postmenopausal women. Although longitudinal studies of resistance training did not reveal increases in HDL-C levels in women, other favorable benefits observed included decreases in low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, total cholesterol, and body fat. Cross-sectional studies, however, seem to favor high-volume exercise for increasing HDL-C levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science, Physical Education, and Recreation, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529-0196, USA. ldowling@odu.edu.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Dowling