How exercise affects lipid profiles in women - What to recommend for patients

After menopause, women have less favorable lipid profiles than before menop ause. While regular exercise improves lipid metabolism in men, the specific s for doing so in pre- and postmenopausal women are not fully understood. L iterature review suggests that higher-volume aerobic exercise programs incr ease high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in both pre- and p ostmenopausal women. Although longitudinal studies of resistance training d id not reveal increases in HDL-C levels in women, other favorable benefits observed included decreases in low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, total c holesterol, and body fat. Cross-sectional studies, however, seem to favor h igh-volume exercise for increasing HDL-C levels.