What Is the Best Exercise to Lower Cholesterol?
There's no single best exercise to lower cholesterol. The strongest evidence favours a mix: aerobic exercise three times a week plus two strength sessions, according to Exercise and Sports Science Australia. Expect a modest LDL drop of about 0.19 mmol/L on average, and better results when you change your diet too.
That's the short answer, and you're welcome to stop here. (In case the terms are new, LDL is the "bad" cholesterol and HDL is the "good" kind.) If you'd like to know what "modest" really means and how to fit a mix into your week, read on.
Which type of exercise lowers cholesterol most?
A mix. Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) set this out in a position statement in the April 2026 issue of the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. It points to combined training. That's aerobic exercise, or cardio, which keeps your heart rate up, plus resistance training, where you work your muscles against weights or bands.
Here's how ESSA's review of the trials sorts the options:
- Aerobic exercise: total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides (another blood fat) all improved.
- Resistance training alone: only HDL clearly improved, and results for LDL were inconsistent.
- Both together: total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides improved, and the authors called it optimal.
Nobody has pinned down a perfect recipe. A 2014 review of the evidence said the best type, frequency, intensity and duration of exercise were yet to be identified, and ESSA found no single cardio activity that beats the rest. If running is hard on your joints, water-based exercise showed similar improvements in the trials it reviewed. So the best exercise for you is the one you'll still be doing in six months.
Does exercise actually lower cholesterol?
Yes, but modestly. A 2025 analysis of 148 trials involving 8,673 people, cited by ESSA, found an average LDL drop of about 0.19 mmol/L (about 7 mg/dl). For scale, you'd expect medication to cut LDL by 30 to 50%. Exercise on its own won't match that.
Small doesn't mean pointless. ESSA extrapolates that drop to about a 4.5% reduction in cardiovascular deaths, and says the real benefit is likely bigger because exercise also improves your HDL, blood pressure and body composition.
You may have seen a bleaker claim. Harvard Health's page on lowering cholesterol without drugs, dated April 2020, says a major analysis found diet reduced LDL and total cholesterol while exercise alone had no effect on either. The page doesn't name the analysis, so we couldn't trace it to a study.
The newer, larger analysis found a small effect from exercise alone, so the two differ there. Where they agree is what's on your plate: ESSA says diet and exercise together beat exercise alone, and Harvard says adding aerobic exercise boosted a healthy diet's effect. So change how you eat as well as how you move.
How much, how hard and how long do you need to go?
Enough to add up over a week. Cleveland Clinic says moderate-intensity cardio is all you need and that you don't have to push the pace. The 2014 review said more intense activity was required to reduce LDL and triglycerides.
ESSA's answer is that total weekly volume matters most, and harder exercise is mainly a way to get that volume in less time. High intensity isn't realistic for everyone, so ESSA offers a gentler route and a harder one.
Its minimum is 11.25 MET-hours a week, a measure of energy spent, which matches the World Health Organization's minimum. Each week, that could mean walking at 5 km/h for about 3.5 hours, jogging at 8 km/h for about 1.5 hours, or lifting weights for roughly 1.5 to 2 hours.
ESSA's starting plan looks like this:
- Cardio: 30 minutes, three to five times a week at a moderate pace, or 30 minutes two to three times a week at a vigorous pace.
- Strength: two sessions a week, with two to three sets of eight to ten repetitions.
- Combined: three cardio sessions and two strength sessions a week.
Can you lower cholesterol in 30 days?
No, not reliably. ESSA says you need at least eight weeks of training before your cholesterol numbers change, and many doctors won't retest before 12 weeks.
Say you start walking every morning and get a blood test at four weeks. Your numbers haven't moved, so you decide it isn't working. That's the point where it would be easy to stop, just before changes are likely to show up.
Give it 12 weeks and the numbers get a fair go. Then keep going, because ESSA notes that your gains may start to fade within as little as 15 days of stopping. The routine you can keep beats the burst you can't.
Where does Pilates fit?
Not at the front of the queue, if cholesterol is your main goal. The recommendations above are built on aerobic and strength training trials, so that's where we'd start: brisk walks, cycling or swimming, plus two strength sessions a week. We sell reformers, and we'd still tell you that.
A reformer can still earn its place. ESSA says to choose the type of exercise that suits your abilities and preferences, because you're likelier to stick with it. If a reformer is what you'll actually turn up for, that counts for a lot.
We've covered what the research says about reformer Pilates and cholesterol in our reformer Pilates and cholesterol article. If you'd like a straight answer on whether a home reformer suits your space, you're welcome to speak to a specialist.
The verdict
Mix it, keep it up and get tested. Aim for three cardio sessions and two strength sessions a week, and give it at least 12 weeks before you judge the result. Change what you eat too, because diet plus exercise beats exercise alone.
Exercise works alongside diet and medication, not instead of them. Ask your GP for a cholesterol test before you start and another after about 12 weeks, so you know where your cholesterol really sits. If you take a statin and get muscle soreness that hasn't started to ease after 72 hours, mention it to your doctor.
If you're weighing up equipment for the strength side, our buyer's guide walks you through the options, and we're happy to talk it through on a call if you'd prefer. No pressure either way.
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