What Is the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Atherogenic Dyslipidemia?
For the purposes of this review, atherogenic dyslipidemia is defined as the presence of abnormally low serum concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and elevated concentrations of high triglycerides (TG) and small, dense low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The response of serum lipoproteins to changes in habitual physical activity have been well studied. In general, both HDL cholesterol and serum TG reproducibly and favorably respond to changes in habitual physical activity, with increases in HDL cholesterol and decreases in serum TG, mostly related to the volume of exercise training and responding with threshold volumes in the range of 7 to 15 miles per week of regular exercise (equating to an approximate 600 to 800 MET-minutes). Some evidence indicates that women are less responsive than men to change in habitual exercise, perhaps due to the observation that those with the largest baseline abnormalities (lower HDL and higher TG) gain the greatest benefit a
