An Updated Systematic Review on the Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Human Blood Lipid Profile

Sedentary lifestyle and dyslipidemia are well-recognized risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Changes in blood lipid profile (total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein [HDL], and low-density lipoprotein [LDL]) due to the exercise may be beneficial for decreasing CVD-related events. In this review we aimed to investigate the effect of different types of exercise on lipid profile components in people with different health conditions and age ranges. A systematic search was performed covering PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for English articles from 2010 until November 2021. Finally, 31 studies were included in our study. Results showed that exercise in younger individuals sometimes resulted in no significant changes of any of the variables or some of them; however, efficient improvement was observed in all studies of older and middle-age groups. In terms of health condition and gender; healthy individuals, overweight people, subjects with type 2 diabetes and obesity, and male participants found to have benefited more from the exercise. In patients with chronic kidney diseases lipid profile improvement was not significant. The cardiac rehabilitation program, particularly comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation, proved to be more beneficial than exercise alone in the case of cardiovascular patients and those at elevated risk of CVD. In conclusion exercise is beneficial in terms of improving lipid profile but for younger population, and those with kidney problems and CVD patients, more further preparations are needed under the supervision of experts in the field of sports and medicine to achieve the desired result. Also, more studies are needed for these groups in order to provide a definite and reliable conclusion.