Does Exercise Lower Cholesterol?

Exercise can lower cholesterol. Specifically, the right amount of routine exercise can lower your "bad" LDL cholesterol which clogs arteries while increasing "good" HDL cholesterol which helps clear bad cholesterol from the body. Exercise can also help lower triglycerides that, with high LDL and low HDL, contribute to the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Regular exercise paired with a healthy diet and other lifestyle changes can significantly improve your cholesterol levels within months. To ensure the right level of activity, speak with your healthcare provider who can design a program appropriate for your age and fitness level.

This article describes the types of exercises (and how much is needed) to lower your cholesterol. It also explains how exercise reduces cholesterol and other natural ways to do so without medications.

Exercises That Improve Cholesterol

There is no set "cholesterol workout," but there are three types of exercise that will reap the most benefit if you have high cholesterol. Study results vary, but some suggest that routine exercise performed at least three times weekly can significantly reduce high cholesterol levels after two to six months.

Aerobic Exercises

Aerobic exercise involves exercising large muscle groups rhythmically and repetitively. It increases your heart rate and how much oxygen your body uses. Doing so can increase the production of HDL cholesterol which, in turn, helps clear more "bad" cholesterol from your body.

Depending on your age and fitness level, appropriate aerobic exercises may include:

• Pushing a grocery cart around a store
• Gardening, such as digging or hoeing
• Walking, hiking, jogging, or running
• Water aerobics or swimming laps
• Bicycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, or jumping rope
• Ballroom dancing and aerobic dancing
• Tennis, soccer, hockey, or basketball
  

Strength Training Exercises

Strength training exercises, also known as resistance training, are used to build muscle. Studies have shown that regular resistance training has the same effects on HDL as aerobic exercise, corresponding to decreases in LDL levels.

Depending on your age and fitness level, activities that can help build muscle and strength include:

• Lifting weights
• Working with resistance bands
• Doing body-weight exercises, such as push-ups and sit-ups
• Heavy gardening, such as digging or shoveling
• Some forms of yoga (such as "power yoga" or "core body yoga")

Flexibility Exercises

Flexibility exercise involves stretches that help prepare your muscles for exercise and increase the range of motion of joints, such as your hips, shoulders, and knees. Stretching on its own may not cause notable changes in your cholesterol levels, but it can aid by increasing your tolerance to exercise and reducing your risk of injury.

In fact, a combined exercise program involving stretching, aerobics, and strength training has been shown to be more effective in lowering cholesterol than each exercise on its own.

Flexibility exercises may include:

• Back stretches and rotations
• Hamstring stretches
• Quad stretches
• Calf stretches
• Knee-to-chest stretches
• Hip rotation and flexion

How Much Exercise Do You Need to Improve Cholesterol?

The key to reducing cholesterol with exercise is consistency and a progressive increase in intensity and duration. "Plateauing" or keeping at the level can result in diminishing returns over time.

The American Heart Association (AHA) issued the following recommendations for exercise in adults:

• Get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week (or a combination of both) spread throughout the week.
• Do moderate- to high-intensity resistance training at least two days per week.
• Get even greater benefits by increasing to at least 300 minutes (five hours) of exercise per week.
• Aim to increase the duration and intensity of exercise over time.

To help guide you, speak with your healthcare provider who can design an individualized plan based on your age and fitness level. A personal trainer can help guide you to attain your short- and long-term fitness goals.

How Exercise Helps Improve Cholesterol

Exercise helps normalize cholesterol levels by increasing the level of "good" cholesterol in your blood and the clearance of "bad" cholesterol from your blood.

There are two main types of cholesterol in your blood:

• High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
• Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol

Of these, "good" HDL cholesterol can absorb "bad" LDL cholesterol and carry it back to the liver for elimination from the body in stool. This can reduce the level of cholesterol that would otherwise clog arteries and increase the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke.

Exercise can also cause positive changes

There is also evidence that exercise, specifically aerobic exercise, can decrease the absorption of "bad" cholesterol in the intestine from the foods you eat.

How Effective Is Exercise in Lowering Cholesterol?

Studies have shown a direct correlation between the type and amount of exercise you do and the effect it has on your cholesterol levels:

• A 14-week study in premenopausal women showed that resistance training performed 40 to 50 minutes three times weekly decreased LDL cholesterol from 2.99 to 2.57 mmol/L.
• Another study involving untrained males concluded that an increase in the intensity of resistance training corresponded to greater decreases in HDL levels.
• A large review of studies reported that 12 weeks of aerobic exercise performed at moderate intensity increased HDL cholesterol by 4.6 % and decreased LDL cholesterol by 5%.
• A 16-week study in young males reported that the combination of aerobic and resistance training afforded greater reductions in LDL (from 4.39 to 3.23 mmol/L) than aerobics alone. In this group, aerobics alone did not result in significant changes in LDL levels.
  

Other Natural Ways to Lower Cholesterol

Exercise is not the only lifestyle change that can lower your cholesterol without medications.

The AHA offers the following "heart-healthy" guidelines that may not only improve your cholesterol levels but your general health as well:

• Eat a healthy, balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, plant-based proteins, lean poultry, and fish.
• Limit your consumption of sugary foods and drinks, red meat, salt, refined carbohydrates, and highly processed foods.
• Replace saturated and trans fats with polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats.
• Quit smoking, which has been shown to lower HDL levels and increase your risk of heart disease.

Even with these interventions, some people may still have high cholesterol. In such cases, medication like statins can be added to the treatment plan to help you reach your target goals.

Summary

Exercise can improve high cholesterol by increasing "good" HDL cholesterol that carries "bad" LDL cholesterol from the body. The ideal program would involve aerobic exercise and resistance training.

Your healthcare provider or a personal trainer can help determine the appropriate workout goals based on your age and fitness level. The program should aim to increase the duration and intensity of workouts to achieve the best results.