LONGECITY

I'm in my mid-forties, no known health conditions, I'm fit and slim.

I've been playing strenuous soccer for the last five years (3x a week, about 2 hours each time) I play hard, but I would run a lot more if I wasn't afraid of having a heart-attack. I never felt chest pain or any other symptoms, my concern is just in my head, but I want to know what my risk situation is with that type of exercise and that intensity. 

My lipid profile is not ideal (somewhat high LDL, good Triglycerides and good HDL, resulting in a bit over ideal high cholesterol)

My BP is normal. 

I tried googling it, but couldn't find a clear answer. Not sure what I'm looking for here. 

Thanks. 

You need to have your heart stress-tested. 

http://www.heartsite...tress_test.html

High total cholesterol means literally nothing - what counts is the HDL/trigs ratio and other, not necessarily "lipid panel" markers, i.e. - your C-Reactive Protein, your CoQ10, ... If you have your current blood test, send it to me - I can do a thorough evaluation and proper reading (based on my studies with Dr. Dicken Weatherby). And if you do long (2 hours is in my opinion long) anaerobic exercise your body will consider that as a stress. 

Heart stress test might be good. Also blood testing for markers of heart disease. If you are really worried, then a heart scan. Of course, all of this is costly, that is why I haven't done it, even though I am in the boat as you with about the same cholesterol levels.

If I did all the tests and everything came up clean, I would continue my exercise without worrying.

High intensity interval training has been studied with people aged 65+, and IIRC it has always been well tolerated, with no negative effect on heart function markers reported. If you have no reason to suspect that you might have a risk of CVD, you should be good to go for at least another 20 years. Of course, having a stress test done would probably set your mind at ease.      

It's the opposite.  Strenuous exercise should be good for your heart and cardiovascular system, as long as it is frequent enough.  Two hours soccer three times a week sounds like the ideal exercise regimen, assuming you don't have underlying health conditions preventing it.  But just in case have it cleared with your doctor so he can check for any heart rhythm irregularities, etc.  

By the way, you are not too old for strenuous exercise.  People frequently run marathons well into their 70s.  It is just important keeping it up so you don't lose conditioning. 

Yes, your life is over.  You hit the big Four-Oh.  You can't figure out how to operate a DVR, and you go to bed at 8:30. 

Good grief! There were pro football NFL players in their 40s!  Even more in professional baseball.  There are 40 year old Navy seals for crying out loud. 

Get rid of the stinkin' thinkin' now!  Get your butt to the nearest gym and start a combo program of weight training and wind sprints.  Do the sprinting after your weight lifting is over.  Get at least 1.5-2gr of high quality protein for every 1lb you weigh.  In 6 months you will be amazed.

I wont tell you my age, but following my program above I'm up almost 40 lbs of lean muscle in nearly 2 years. 

I have little patience for the 40 somethings who sit by and watch their bodies and health go to s**t. 

Hey! I don't let my body go to shit... I play soccer 3x/week and do some strength reps....

HowEVER, now I realized I sport 60 mg/dl of lipoprotein(a)... sigh... I hope this still means that the more I exercise, the better health I most likely will have. 

50 years here.

Tabata exercising ed, with HR up to 185 bpm (measured at 213 max 15 years ago, I believe I'm still at about 190 max)

HDL/Triglycerides ratio over 2, with total cholesterol also over 2,2g...nothing bad at all.

If you train regularly at high intensity levels, and don't have any known pathology before, you should be fine.