Effects of brisk walking program on plasma homocysteine level and lipid profile sedentary young subjects

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 6-week brisk walking training on plasma homocysteine levels and lipid profiles in sedentary young subjects. Materials and methods: Fourteen female and 15 male physiotherapy students were included voluntarily in this study. The subjects performed six weeks of brisk walking program, with a speed of 6.4 km/h and over, three times a week. Plasma homocysteine, total cholesterol triglyceride, high density lipoprotein-chloesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein-chloesterol (LDL-C) levels were measured before and after the exercise training. Results: After the training, plasma homocysteine leveles increased whereas HDL-C and triglyceride levels decreased. These differences were not statistically significant (p>0.05). On the contrary total were higher in males as compared to females before and after training. Conclusions: The results suggest that brisk walking training for 18 sessions as an aerobic exercises could be effective on the lipid profile, but this training program does not change the levels of plasma homocysteine.