Forty-eight untrained middle-aged men volunteered for a 13 week training study to investigate effects of different running programs on plasma levels of total cholesterol, HDL-C, apo A-I, apo B, and LCAT activity. The subjects were randomly assigned to either a 4-mile (4M), 2-mile (2M), 2-minute interval (I), or control (C) group. Treadmill times to 90% of age-predicted maximal heart rate (TT90%) were assessed at pre- and post- training periods, and blood variables were assessed at pre-, mid-, and post- training periods. Training intensities were prescribed at 80% of maximal heart rate for the distance groups, and at 90% of maximal heart rate for the I group. Significant (p < 0.05) improvements in TT90% were exclusively achieved in the exercise groups, but no running program was significantly more effective than the others. None of the blood lipid changes were significant. Apo B showed a trend toward increased post-training levels, and LCAT activity also increased. However, for the blood variables in which changes were found, post-hoc comparisons failed to exclusively link the changes to exercise. Thus, our running programs were not effective in altering plasma levels of selected blood lipids, apoproteins, and LCAT activity. Discriminations between the efficacy of the various running programs was not possible.

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