Physical activity is known to have beneficial effects on prevention of cardiovascular disease. The regular aerobic exercise is associated with higher central arterial compliance, but its effect on peripheral arterial compliance is controversial. We aimed to test the hypotheses that regular aerobic training provokes beneficial changes in peripheral vascular activity at rest. Further we aimed to determine the influence of different autonomic stimuli (0.1Hz breathing and mental arithmetic stress) on peripheral vascular reactivity in physically trained young healthy adults compared to their sedentary peers. Experiments were performed on 21 males, 19-24 years old (12 physically trained, VO2max = 40±3 ml/kg/min – group A, 11 sedentary controls, VO2max = 33±4 ml/kg/min – group B). Written informed consent was obtained from each and the study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. VO2max was determined directly on a separate day using cycloergometry (Quark CPET, Cosmed). On the testing day ECG, arterial blood pressure (Finapres, Ohmeda) and peripheral artery compliance on the finger artery at rest, 3 minutes during 0.1Hz breathing and 3 min during mental arithmetic challenge were measured. A noninvasive method based on the comparison of the arterial pressure and arterial volume of finger artery was used to measure peripheral artery compliance evaluated as compliance index (CI). Our results revealed elevated CI in group A compared to group B (3.42±0.30 and 1.28±0.31, p=0.004) at rest, but no significant differences in CI between groups during both physiological stimuli. CI decreased during 0.1Hz breathing (1.53 ±0.20, p=0.003) and mental stress (0.87 ±0.13, p=0.002) in group A, but only during mental stress in group B (0.59 ±0.12, p=0.03). There were no differences in heart rate (p=0.08 at rest, 0.12 at 0.1Hz breathing and 0.34 at stress test), systolic and diastolic blood pressure between groups, at rest or during autonomic stimuli. A linear correlation between CI and VO2max was found (p<0.001) at rest, during 0.1Hz breathing (p=0.017) and in mental stress (p=0.007). Regular aerobic training increases peripheral arterial compliance in healthy subjects. Surprisingly the increase was not found during 0.1Hz breathing and mental arithmetic. Our findings indicate that peripheral and not central autonomic mechanisms govern peripheral arterial properties in young healthy males.