title: Metabolic effects of regular physical exercise in healthy population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effect of moderate regular aerobic physical activity not associated to body weight changes on insulin resistance and the associated metabolic changes in general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, observational study in an adult population (n=101 subjects aged 30-70 years) with no personal history of disease and with stable weight in the three months prior to the study. The group with regular exercise performed 30-60 minutes of moderate regular physical exercise 5 days per week (7.5-15 hours MET per week), while a control group performed no regular physical exercise and had a sedentary lifestyle. Subjects were age- and sex-matched. Lipids, lipoproteins, and HOMA index were measured using standard methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The group with regular physical activity consisted of 48 subjects (21 male/27 female), while the group with no regular physical activity included 53 subjects (31 male/22 female). No significant differences were found between the groups in age, sex, BMI, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Significant differences were found between the groups in fasting serum triglyceride, HDL-C, and apoB levels. Fasting plasma insulin levels (12.1 ± 4.13 vs 14.9 ± 4.8 mU/L, P= .004) and HOMA index (2.8 ± 1.1 vs 3.5 ± 4.1, P= .001) were significantly lower in the group with regular physical activity as compared to the sedentary group. Prevalence rates of metabolic syndrome were 20.7% and 45.8% (P=.01) in the regular physical activity and sedentary groups respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Moderate regular physical activity is associated to higher insulin sensitivity, an improved lipid profile, and a decrease in components of metabolic syndrome with no change in weight or BMI.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Endocrinología y Nutrición, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia, Valencia, España. juancaro84@gmail.com
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Caro
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Rosario I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Lorente
authors.forename: María Antonia
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Priego
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martínez-Hervás
authors.forename: Jose T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Real
authors.forename: Juan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Ascaso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008660:Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged