Objective:Both the UK Department of Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days for health. Specific mention is made of beneficial effects upon blood lipids. The purpose of this study was to compare biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk in men who perform physical activity in accordance with these recommendations with those who do not.Methods:128 healthy men, aged 40–65 years, were recruited. 61 were classified as active (performing at least the minimum recommended physical activity of ⩾4 metabolic equivalents (METs), for 6 months immediately before the study) and 67 as sedentary. Fasting blood was drawn for total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and apolipoproteins (Apo) A-1 and B. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was estimated using the Friedewald equation.Results:The median (interquartile range) physical activity level was 7.0 (5.0–10.7) versus 1.0 (0–1.8) hour/week at ⩾4 METs (active versus sedentary; p<0.001). Apo A-1 was higher in the active men (p = 0.032). No significant differences were found for TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, TC:HDL-C, triglycerides, Apo B, or the Apo B:A-1 ratio.Conclusions:These findings suggest that physical activity performed according to the recommendations used in this study favourably influenced Apo A-1. The finding that cholesterol and triglycerides were not different in men achieving the recommended physical activity levels compared with sedentary men contradicts some of the claims made within the published recommendations. However, intervention studies are needed to clarify these preliminary findings.

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is associated with heart rate variability (HRV) in 24-39-year-old men. This study of 40-65-year-old men ranging in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels investigated whether (a) PWV is related to spectral HRV, (b) using normalised units for HRV influences that relationship, and (c) HRV predicts PWV when other factors, including age and blood pressure, are accounted for. Subjects were healthy men (N=115), mean (SD) age 50.8 (7.1) years. Carotid-femoral PWV was measured using Complior. HRV was derived from a 5 min ECG for total, high-frequency, and low-frequency power (TP, HF, and LF, respectively), the LF/HF ratio, and normalised units for HF (HFnu) and LF (LFnu). Non-parametric data were natural log-transformed. PWV was 8.5 (1.4) m s-1. TP, HF, LF, LF/HF, HFnu and LFnu were 1908 (2195) m s2, 577 (1034) m s2, 457 (514) m s2, 1.5 (1.3), 46.8 (17.9), and 49.4 (19.4), respectively. PWV was inversely associated with TP (R2=0.061, p=0.008), HF (R2=0.095, p=0.001), LF (R2=0.086, p=0.002) and HFnu (R2=0.040, p=0.031), but was not associated with LF/HF (R2=0.020, p=0.136) or LFnu (R2=0.028 p=0.076). Only age and systolic blood pressure (adjusted R2=0.306, p<0.001) predicted PWV in multivariate analysis. This study has shown that PWV was weakly associated with TP and HF. The use of normalised units only influenced the relationship between PWV and LF. Finally, relationships between PWV and HRV are mediated through age and systolic blood pressure in this population of men ranging in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity level.