Exercise and postprandial lipemia: effect of continuous compared with intermittent activity patterns.

BACKGROUND Guidelines state that accumulated physical activity is beneficial for health, but a minimum duration of 10 min per activity bout is recommended. Limited information regarding the effects of short (< 10 min) bouts of activity on health is available, and no studies of the effects of such short bouts of activity on postprandial lipemia have been conducted. OBJECTIVE The objective was to compare the effects of accumulating ten 3-min bouts of exercise with those of one 30-min bout of exercise on postprandial plasma triacylglycerol concentrations. DESIGN Ten men aged 21-32 y completed three 2-d trials > or = 1 wk apart in a randomized repeated-measures design. On day 1, the subjects rested (no exercise) or ran at 70% of maximum oxygen uptake in either ten 3-min bouts (30 min rest between each) or one continuous 30-min bout. On day 2, the subjects rested and consumed test meals (0.69 g fat, 0.95 g carbohydrate, 0.31 g protein, and 46 kJ/kg body mass) for breakfast and lunch. Venous blood samples were obtained in the fasted state and for 7 h postprandially on day 2. RESULTS Postprandial plasma triacylglycerol concentrations were lower throughout day 2 of both the accumulation exercise trial and the continuous exercise trial than during the control trial (main effect of trial: P < 0.001, 2-factor analysis of variance). CONCLUSIONS Accumulating multiple short bouts of exercise throughout the day effectively reduce postprandial plasma triacylglycerol concentrations to an extent similar to that of a single 30-min session of exercise in healthy young men.