Effects of walking training on health‐related fitness in healthy middle‐aged adults—a randomized controlled study

The effects of walking training on VO2max, serum lipoproteins and plasma fibrinogen were studied in 119 healthy middle-aged persons. Training prescription was 65-75% of VO2max, 50 min/session, four times a week for 15 weeks. The net difference (between pre-posttraining changes in the walking and control group) was statistically significant for VO2max (0.14 l .min-1, 95% CI 0.04, 0.23), total cholesterol (-0.20 mmol.l-1, CI -0.34, -0.06), LDL cholesterol (-0.17 mmol.l-1, CI -0.29, -0.05), ratio of HDL cholesterol to total cholesterol (0.014, CI 0.005, 0.023), and triglycerides (-0.15 mmol.l-1, CI -0.26, -0.04). No statistically significant changes occurred in fibrinogen. The findings indicate that walking training of moderate intensity resulted in a modest increase in VO2max and minor but consistently favorable changes in serum lipoproteins.