As far as I've ever been able to find, exercise - and I'm talking significant aerobic and resistance exercise - has the capability to raise a person's HDL a maximum of 10%. If you have a high HDL level already, 50 or more, that would be up to 5 or so points. However, if you are genetically low HDL-wise (like me - <25), you get a whopping 1 to 3 point increase. I doubt that will save my life. I personally want to exercise so I have some strength and endurance in my declining years
, not because I think it's going to do much for me weight or longevity-wise. I tend to agree with Tesaje, I haven't seen much science supporting exercise helping with weight loss. I do agree it improves insulin sensitivity, which is a good thing.
By the way, I've been taking high dose Niacin (with my doctor's agreement). At my last lab test my HDL was 39. I've never been over 25 in my life. To me that was a significant increase - 55%.