Physical performance and serum cholesterol fractions in healthy young men.

In 293 healthy, 18--30-year-old male adults (241 well trained athletes with different training types: (A) endurance, (B) mixed, and (C) power training; (D) 52 untrained students), serum total cholesterol and the cholesterol fractions (HDL-, VLDL-, LDL-cholesterol) were investigated. In comparison with the untrained students, lower LDL- and VLDL-cholesterol concentrations were found in group (A) (-0.23 mmol/l, p < 0.01; -0.08 mmol/l, p < 0.001), lower HDL-cholesterol concentrations were found in group (C) (-0.33 mmol/l, p < 0.001). Increased HDL-cholesterol values and decreased VLDL- and LDL-cholesterol values were found in athletes with a rising oxygen-uptake; a significant, age-related increase in HDL-cholesterol occurred only in endurance-trained persons. There was no significant correlation between relative body weight and the HDL-cholesterol in the subjects examined.