Evidence library · Fatigue

Does resistance training affect fatigue in menopause? What 9 studies found

Studies of resistance training in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured fatigue. 3 reported an improvement and 2 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors did 3 months of walking plus resistance band training; fatigue effect sizes were small and not statistically significant, with inflammatory markers mediating change.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 46 women · 12 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 70 timesPubMed

  2. Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors did 3 months of walking and resistance band training; the exercise group reported fewer hours of sleep per night versus control, mediated by inflammation and fatigue.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 46 women · 12 weeks · 2015PostmenopausalCited 47 timesPubMed

  3. Breast cancer patients did 16 weeks of resistance plus HIIT or aerobic plus HIIT during chemotherapy; at 5 years fatigue did not differ from usual care, but gluteal pain sensitivity was reduced with resistance HIIT.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 240 women · 16 weeks · 2024Midlife womenCited 13 timesPubMed

  4. In 36 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors, 12 weeks of resistance training increased strength by about 25 to 35% and fatigue decreased, alongside changes in kynurenine metabolism markers.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 36 women · 12 weeks · 2022PostmenopausalCited 11 timesPubMed

  5. Postmenopausal cancer survivors who did 6 months of strength training had higher odds of reducing frailty than a stretching control group, while tai ji quan reduced fatigue more.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 386 women · 26 weeks · 2024PostmenopausalCited 5 timesPubMed

  6. In postmenopausal cancer survivors over 6 months, strength training reduced overall frailty more than stretching controls, while tai chi reduced fewer frailty criteria overall but helped fatigue.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 386 women · 26 weeks · 2023PostmenopausalPubMed

  7. Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors did 16 weeks of whole-body resistance training and showed increased muscle strength, reduced fatigue, improved quality of life, and lower inflammatory markers.

    Reported an improvementBefore-and-after study · 11 women · 16 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 40 timesPubMed

  8. In middle-aged women around 50 performing heavy leg press resistance exercise, maximal force dropped about 31% after loading and remained reduced two hours later, recovering by two days.

    Reported a worseningOther · 23 women · 1995Midlife womenCited 28 timesPubMed

  9. Interviews with 26 postmenopausal breast and gynecologic cancer survivors found they preferred flexible, at-home physical activity like walking, dancing and muscle-strengthening during and after treatment.

    Direction not statedOther · 26 women · 2024PostmenopausalPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and fatigue