Effect of high intensity functional training on serum levels of ApoA-I, ApoB and lipid profile in elderly men and women

High-intensity functional training is a group- and individual-based exercise which increase physical fitness, and it seems to be useful for improving the health of the elderly. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of high-intensity functional training on serum levels of cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDL, ApoA-I and ApoB in elderly men and women.

In this quasi-experimental study, 23 subjects (7 males and 16 females, aged 60-88 yrs) were divided into experimental (n=16) and control (n=7) groups. The experimental group performed a high-intensity functional training protocol consisting of six exercises three sessions per week for eight weeks. The exercises were performed at all-out intensity for 30 seconds and there was 15 seconds between each set and 2 minutes rest between each exercises. To analyze the data, paired samples t-test and ANCOVA were used and the level of significance was considered as P<0.05.

The results showed that in the experimental group, serum levels of LDL, cholesterol and triglyceride significantly decreased and HDL and apoA-I significantly increased (P<0.05), but in the control group, no significant change was observed in the serum levels of the variables (P>0.05). Also, the results showed a significant difference between the two groups in all variables (P<0.05) except for cholesterol (P=0.093) and ApoB (P=0.251).

Eight weeks of high-intensity functional training in elderly men and women improve serum levels of cardiovascular health-related factors. Therefore, high-intensity functional training is recommended at least to improve cardiovascular function in elderly men and women.