A meta-analysis of 39 RCTs in postmenopausal women found exercise training improved waist circumference, triglycerides, HDL, glucose, and blood pressure, with combined training most effective.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2,132 participants pooled · 2023PostmenopausalCited 33 timesPubMed
A meta-analysis of 59 trials in postmenopausal women aged 45 to 78 found aerobic training improved blood pressure, BMI, waist circumference, body fat, cholesterol and fitness, with very low certainty evidence.
Mixed resultsMeta-analysis · 4,225 participants pooled · 2024PostmenopausalCited 5 timesPubMed
A meta-analysis of 15 RCTs with 1,110 middle-aged women found aerobic exercise reduced waist circumference and blood glucose and increased VO2 max.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,110 participants pooled · 2022Midlife womenCited 6 timesPubMed
A network meta-analysis of 142 trials in postmenopausal women found combined training, aerobic exercise, resistance training and mind-body exercise each improved different metabolic syndrome risk factors.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 7,967 participants pooled · 2025PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed
In obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, 16 weeks of aerobic training combined with resistance training improved glucose disposal more than aerobic exercise alone.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 28 women · 16 weeks · 2003PostmenopausalCited 307 timesPubMed
Inactive overweight postmenopausal women did 12 months of diet, exercise, or both; insulin resistance improved significantly with diet and with diet plus exercise but not with exercise alone.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 439 women · 52 weeks · 2011Midlife womenCited 103 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women did moderate or vigorous treadmill walking for 20 weeks during calorie restriction; both exercise groups preserved lean mass but showed no extra loss of abdominal fat versus diet alone.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 95 women · 20 weeks · 2009PostmenopausalCited 128 timesPubMed
In 173 overweight sedentary postmenopausal women, 12 months of moderate aerobic exercise lowered insulin and leptin levels compared with a stretching control group.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 173 women · 52 weeks · 2005PostmenopausalCited 117 timesPubMed
Previously inactive postmenopausal women did a year-long aerobic exercise program of 225 minutes a week, and researchers found reduced insulin, insulin resistance and leptin compared to controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 310 women · 52 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 84 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes did diet, exercise, or both for 14 weeks; CRP fell with all approaches but exercise alone changed weight and leptin only slightly.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 33 women · 14 weeks · 2005PostmenopausalCited 150 timesPubMed
Sedentary postmenopausal women at increased cardiovascular risk were assigned to different doses of aerobic exercise training for six months to study effects on fitness and heart disease risk factors.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 450 women · 26 weeks · 2004PostmenopausalCited 83 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors who cycled three times weekly for 15 weeks showed no change in fasting insulin or glucose but had significant changes in IGF-I and IGFBP-3 versus non-exercising controls.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 52 women · 15 weeks · 2003PostmenopausalCited 122 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women did six months of exercise with or without isoflavone supplementation, and exercise plus isoflavone reduced body weight and abdominal fat more than exercise alone.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 50 women · 26 weeks · 2007PostmenopausalCited 57 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women with a history of weight cycling who did a 12-month diet and/or aerobic exercise program improved insulin resistance as much as non-cyclers, with no difference in adherence.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 439 women · 52 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 27 timesPubMed
In obese postmenopausal women, 16 weeks of aerobic exercise reduced body fat, glucose, insulin and blood pressure, and raised sex hormone binding globulin, versus no change in controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 30 women · 16 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 45 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did a 1-year exercise and/or low-fat diet program, and metabolic syndrome score improved with exercise, diet or both, driven mainly by body fat loss.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 149 women · 52 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 34 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did a 12 week home-based bench step exercise program and showed improved BMI, blood pressure, glucose, LDL cholesterol and arterial stiffness measures.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 26 women · 12 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 38 timesPubMed
Healthy women aged 50 to 65 did 12 weeks of combined aerobic plus resistance training or aerobic training alone, and combined training improved growth hormone, body fat, glucose and blood pressure more.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 22 women · 12 weeks · 2010Midlife womenCited 40 timesPubMed
Obese, inactive postmenopausal Black women at breast cancer risk did 6 months of supervised or home-based aerobic exercise and researchers found reduced allostatic load scores compared with controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 213 women · 26 weeks · 2022PostmenopausalCited 13 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal obese black women with a family history of breast cancer did six months of supervised or home-based walking exercise and showed improved metabolic syndrome scores compared to controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 213 women · 26 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 14 timesPubMed
In 12 overweight postmenopausal women, replacing sitting with standing and walking over 4 days improved insulin sensitivity similarly to a daily hour of moderate to vigorous exercise.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 12 women · 2021PostmenopausalCited 23 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women did a year of diet, aerobic exercise, or both, and body weight, glucose and inflammation markers improved regardless of antidepressant use.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 439 women · 52 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 13 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome features did 6 months of low-load circuit resistance or aerobic cycling training; both groups reduced body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol with no difference between methods.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 34 women · 24 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 20 timesPubMed
Sedentary overweight postmenopausal women with hypertension did 6 months of cardiorespiratory exercise at varying doses, and higher doses were reported to improve metabolic syndrome components more.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 26 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 40 timesPubMed
In 400 postmenopausal women, moderate versus high doses of aerobic exercise for a year showed no difference in breast cancer biomarkers measured two years later.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 333 women · 104 weeks · 2019PostmenopausalCited 10 timesPubMed
In 332 overweight postmenopausal women, a 6-month aerobic exercise program showed that improved heart rate variability was linked to greater reductions in fasting insulin.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 332 women · 26 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 12 timesPubMed
Sedentary men and postmenopausal women with overweight/obesity did 3 weeks of vigorous treadmill exercise with calorie restriction, reducing weight, fat mass and improving insulin sensitivity without changing gut microbiome.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 30 women · 3 weeks · 2025Midlife womenCited 10 timesPubMed
In 49 postmenopausal South Asian women doing 12 weeks of aerobic exercise, reductions in visceral fat were linked with improved glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 49 women · 12 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 10 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did two hours of moderate exercise before meals; exercise did not change how a low carbohydrate diet lowered insulin, but worsened evening blood sugar rises.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 32 women · 2016PostmenopausalCited 9 timesPubMed
In postmenopausal women who lost weight through an exercise trial, regaining weight over a year of follow-up was associated with rising estrogen and insulin resistance markers and falling sex hormone-binding globulin.
Reported a worseningRandomised trial · 214 women · 104 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 4 timesPubMed
Late premenopausal and early postmenopausal women did 3 months of high-intensity aerobic training, which reduced weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and improved insulin response similarly in both groups.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 79 women · 12 weeks · 2017Midlife womenCited 64 timesPubMed
In 33 obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes given 14 weeks of diet, exercise alone, or diet plus exercise, only exercise groups reduced visceral fat despite diet alone also reducing weight.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 33 women · 14 weeks · 2005PostmenopausalCited 92 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women with impaired glucose tolerance did aerobic exercise plus calorie restriction for 6 months and showed greater improvement in insulin-stimulated glycogen synthase activity than calorie restriction alone.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 96 women · 26 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 60 timesPubMed
Middle-aged and young women did 10 weeks of aerobic exercise three times weekly, both groups improved fitness and insulin sensitivity, with greater adiponectin and RBP4 changes in older women.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 38 women · 10 weeks · 2008Midlife womenCited 78 timesPubMed
In 60 postmenopausal women, 16 weeks of aerobic or combined aerobic plus strength training improved body composition and metabolic markers, but leg lean mass returned to pre-training levels after 6 months of detraining.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 60 women · 16 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 27 timesPubMed
African-American pre- and postmenopausal women did six months of mild-intensity aerobic exercise; postmenopausal women showed improved triglycerides and some vascular markers but not fitness or glucose.
No difference foundControlled trial · 35 women · 26 weeks · 2014Midlife womenCited 17 timesPubMed
In 60 overweight postmenopausal women, 6 months of weight loss plus aerobic exercise improved fitness and reduced android fat distribution more than weight loss alone, which did not change fitness.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 60 women · 24 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 10 timesPubMed
In menopausal and non-menopausal women with metabolic syndrome, three months of aerobic training improved abdominal fat, blood glucose and fitness but did not change resting or post-exercise blood pressure.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 44 women · 12 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed
In 20 postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis, a single session of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise did not differ in insulin sensitivity between those on IL-6 versus TNF-alpha inhibitor therapy.
No difference foundControlled trial · 20 women · 2025PostmenopausalPubMed
In 15 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors, a 12-week supervised aerobic program raised fitness and lowered weight slightly but did not change fasting insulin or insulin resistance overall.
No difference foundBefore-and-after study · 15 women · 12 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 8 timesPubMed
Ten sedentary postmenopausal women completed 12 weeks of cycle endurance training, which increased fitness and altered glucose flux during exercise similarly to effects seen in younger women.
Reported an improvementBefore-and-after study · 10 women · 12 weeks · 2009PostmenopausalCited 9 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women with abdominal obesity did 12 weeks of interval Nordic walking or strength training, both reduced waist circumference, raised HDL, and lowered blood glucose versus controls.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 12 weeks · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
A review described a controlled trial where a 1 year moderate-intensity aerobic exercise program lowered estrogen, testosterone and insulin in overweight, sedentary postmenopausal women.
Reported an improvementOther · 52 weeks · 2007PostmenopausalCited 74 timesPubMed
In nine healthy postmenopausal women, two treadmill sessions before meals lowered fasting blood glucose by about 20% over 16 hours, but sessions after meals did not.
Reported an improvementOther · 9 women · 2009PostmenopausalCited 23 timesPubMed