Their small study showed that although both step aerobics and traditional, step-less aerobics classes improved women's overall cholesterol, only the steppers saw their HDL rise. The findings were published in a recent issue of the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness.

A. Kin Isler and colleagues at Baskent University in Ankara, Turkey, followed 45 sedentary college women over 8 weeks. Fifteen took step aerobics and 15 took traditional aerobic dance, 3 days a week for 45 minutes each day. The rest of the women remained sedentary.

Aerobic dance involves continuous movement designed to get the heart rate up. Step aerobics follows the same principle but the movements are performed using a stepping bench.

After 8 weeks, both aerobics groups showed significantly greater dips in their total cholesterol levels than the sedentary women did. But only the steppers saw an appreciable rise in their HDL. None of the groups showed body weight changes.

``The results indicate that step aerobics training is an effective training mode for modifying (cholesterol) profiles in female college-aged students,'' Isler's team concludes. They offer no explanation for why step aerobics proved more beneficial for HDL levels.

However, they point out, these findings are limited since the study group was small and, although the women were told not to change their diets, they might have done so. In addition, they note, many factors--such as age, smoking and body composition--contribute to a person's cholesterol levels.

SOURCE: Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2001;41:380-385.

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