Objective       To investigate the relationship of exercise and metabolic syndrome by surveying the exercise status and analyzing risk factors of metabolic syndrome in the convalescents of a military sanatorium.       Methods      A total of 800 military cadres on the job or retired in our sanatorium from January to December 2012 were enrolled as survey subjects in this study. They were 538 males and 262 females

with an average age of 67±5. Questionnaires were used to survey their mode of exercise

exercise frequency

exercise duration at each time and total exercise time in a day. The relative factors of metabolic syndrome

such as blood pressure

waistline

fasting blood glucose (FBS)

total cholesterol (TC)

triglyceride (TG)

high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)

low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and uric acid were measured. The cohort was divided into exercise group (n=486

60.75%) and non-exercise group (n=314

39.25%) according to their exercise duration

frequency and intensity were analyzed respectively.       Results       The systolic blood pressure

diastolic blood pressure

waistline

FBS

TC and TG were significantly higher in the non-exercise group than in the exercise group (P0.05). Abnormal rate of risk factors for metabolic syndrome was significantly lower in subjects who took exercise ≥60 min in a day than those 60 min (30.51% vs 43.37%

P0.05)

in subjects whose exercise intensity with Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale of 11 to 15 than those of RPE 11 (33.99% vs 43.11%

P0.05)

and in the subjects who exercised with high frequency every week than those exercised occasionally (20.83% vs 38.61%

P0.05).       Conclusion       Taking exercise ≥60 min/d

with RPE of 11 to 15

exercise frequency ＞3 times/week and long-time persistence are helpful to decrease the risk of metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and aged people.