Research
Hormonal
Aerobic exercise consistently increases HDL-C levels (including protective HDL2-C subfractions) and reduces triglycerides, serving as a viable non-pharmacological intervention for dyslipidemia.
Commit to aerobic exercise at least 3 times a week for 30-45 minutes. You do not need to lose weight for this to improve your HDL (good cholesterol). Moderate intensity is sufficient for most people, though higher intensity may be needed for specific triglyceride goals in some cases.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
all studies focusing on the effects of exercise on HDL-C seemed to consistently indicate that there was an increase in HDL-C more or less, no matter in human or in rats
Why this rating
Based on a review of multiple meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) cited in the text.
Source
Effects of aerobic exercise on lipids and lipoproteins
Yating Wang et al. · Lipids in Health and Disease · 2017
DOI 10.1186/s12944-017-0515-5
narrative_reviewCited 434×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Short-term aerobic exercise (as little as 4 days) significantly improves postprandial lipid profiles, reducing non-fasting triglycerides and LDL remnants.Good
- Aerobic exercise improves LDL particle quality (size/density) and reduces postprandial triglycerides, even when total fasting LDL-C levels remain unchanged.Moderate
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