['People with chronic paraplegia frequently experience dyslipidemias characterized by depressed levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). These abnormal lipid profiles and poor fitness levels increase their risk for cardiovascular disease.', 'To test the hypothesis that circuit resistance exercise training improves both upper-extremity fitness and the atherogenic lipid profile in persons with chronic paraplegia, a homogeneous cohort of 5 men with neurologically complete spinal cord injuries at T6 to L1 underwent 3 months of exercise training using uninterrupted resistance and endurance exercises of the upper extremities. Training was performed 3 times a week on alternating days.', 'Results of graded arm exercise testing showed a 30.3% improvement in peak oxygen consumption (P < .01), a 33.5% increase in time to fatigue (P < .01) and a 30.4% increase in peak power output (P < .05). Pretraining total cholesterol levels (TC) were in the low-risk category and were nonsignificantly lowered following training. Similar nonsignificant reductions of plasma triglycerides averaging 12 mg/dL were attained. Conversely, a 25.9% lowering of LDL-C (P < .05) and 9.8% elevation of HDL-C (P < .05) were observed after training. These changes reduced the average LDL-C-to-HDL-C ratio by 1 unit (P < .05) and the TC-to-HDL-C ratio from 5.0 +/- 1.1 (mean +/- SD) to 3.9 +/- 0.7 (P < .05).'] Does circuit resistance training improve the atherogenic lipid profiles of persons with chronic paraplegia?