Effects of multicomponent exercise on blood lipids in the elderly

Abstract

Sedentary lifestyle combined with aging is associated with the genesis and development of cardiovascular diseases, Evidence for prescribing exercise in metabolic disorders in young and middle age individuals is overwhelming, but little is known regarding the effect of multicomponent exercise programs on the elderlies' metabolic health. The aim of this study was to analyze changes in blood pressure, lipid profile and cardiorespiratory fitness in a group of sedentary older adults following a two-days weekly multicomponent training (MCT) program (60 min/session). Thirteen elderly (70.77±3.72 years; 72.38±14.39 kg; 8 female) completed 15 weeks of MCT. Tryglicerydes (TG), Total cholesterol (TC), High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-c), Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDL-c), blood pressure, and cardiorespiratory fitness were evaluated before and after training. Pre-post results showed significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and blood pressure (p<0.05), and a trend to significance (p=0.06) for TC. A 2-days MCT short intervention improves metabolic health in sedentary old adults, although this dose (duration and time of training) seems not enough to impact blood lipid profile in this kind of training.