A meta-analysis of six RCTs in inactive postmenopausal women found combined exercise and reduced calorie diet, lasting 16 to 52 weeks, lowered estrogen and testosterone levels more than exercise alone.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,588 participants pooled · 52 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 37 timesPubMed
A meta-analysis of resistance and aerobic training in postmenopausal women found exercise significantly increased IGF-1 and decreased IGFBP-3 levels.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,170 participants pooled · 2024PostmenopausalCited 3 timesPubMed
A network meta-analysis of 39 trials in postmenopausal women with overweight or obesity found resistance training lowered CRP most, combined training lowered IL-6 and TNF-alpha, and leptin did not change.
No difference foundMeta-analysis · 2,714 participants pooled · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
Sedentary, overweight postmenopausal women did 12 months of moderate exercise; at 3 months serum estrogens declined versus controls, but effects were largely limited to women who lost body fat.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 170 women · 52 weeks · 2004PostmenopausalCited 247 timesPubMed
Over 12 months, overweight postmenopausal women assigned to diet, exercise, or both reported lower estrogen and testosterone levels, with the largest effects in combined diet plus exercise.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 439 women · 52 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 162 timesPubMed
Sedentary postmenopausal women aged 50 to 74 did a year of aerobic exercise, which lowered estradiol and raised sex hormone binding globulin compared with controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 320 women · 52 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 161 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors did 150 minutes weekly of moderate aerobic exercise for 6 months, which lowered insulin-like growth factor levels compared to a usual care group.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 75 women · 26 weeks · 2009PostmenopausalCited 183 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women did 12 months of diet, aerobic exercise, or both; diet and diet plus exercise raised adiponectin and lowered leptin, exercise alone had smaller effects.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 439 women · 52 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 100 timesPubMed
In 173 sedentary overweight postmenopausal women randomized to a one year aerobic exercise program or stretching, exercisers lost weight and showed a progressive rise in ghrelin levels.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 168 women · 52 weeks · 2005PostmenopausalCited 98 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.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 52 women · 15 weeks · 2003PostmenopausalCited 122 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women lost weight over 16 weeks via diet or mainly exercise, and exercise produced greater fat loss, preserved lean mass, and some differences in sex hormones compared to diet.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 243 women · 16 weeks · 2015PostmenopausalCited 66 timesPubMed
In an 88 woman 12 week RCT, postmenopausal women practicing Hatha yoga reported lower menopausal symptom and depression scores and higher quality of life than control and exercise groups.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 88 women · 12 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 48 timesPubMed
Overweight or obese postmenopausal women completed 12 months of diet, exercise, or both; the combined diet plus exercise group showed a significant rise in fasting ghrelin versus controls.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 439 women · 52 weeks · 2015PostmenopausalCited 35 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.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 50 women · 26 weeks · 2007PostmenopausalCited 57 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women did 12 months of exercise, diet, or both, and diet-based weight loss groups showed a small increase in the IGF-I to IGFBP-3 ratio versus control.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 439 women · 52 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 31 timesPubMed
Overweight, sedentary postmenopausal women completed 12 months of moderate aerobic exercise, which did not significantly change urinary estrogen metabolite excretion compared to stretching controls.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 170 women · 52 weeks · 2004PostmenopausalCited 39 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did a year of walking and aerobic training; the exercise group showed a greater increase in osteoprotegerin, a bone-protective marker, than controls.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 92 women · 52 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 36 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 12 week home-based bench step exercise program and showed improved BMI, blood pressure, glucose, LDL cholesterol and arterial stiffness measures.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 26 women · 12 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 38 timesPubMed
Sedentary postmenopausal women did 16 weeks of low to moderate intensity treadmill walking, which lowered inflammatory cytokines and reproductive hormone levels compared with controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 28 women · 16 weeks · 2015PostmenopausalCited 34 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
In 60 perimenopausal women with functional dyspepsia, adding aerobic exercise to relaxation therapy for 8 weeks increased estradiol levels more than relaxation therapy alone.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 60 women · 8 weeks · 2022PerimenopausalCited 19 timesPubMed
Over 12 weeks, obese postmenopausal women doing endurance or concurrent aerobic and resistance training reduced fat mass, with concurrent training also increasing lean mass and differing effects on sex hormones like testosterone.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 35 women · 12 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 22 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did 200 minutes a week of aerobic exercise for 12 months and researchers found fat loss partly explained exercise-related changes in estradiol and SHBG.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 320 women · 52 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 16 timesPubMed
Obese women aged 50 to 61 did 8 weeks of aerobic or resistance exercise; both reduced weight, waist circumference and body fat, and raised apelin-12 levels.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 24 women · 8 weeks · 2019Midlife womenCited 22 timesPubMed
In 68 obese postmenopausal women, 12 weeks of treadmill exercise combined with the MIND diet improved cognitive and functional levels and changed sex hormone levels compared with diet alone.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 68 women · 12 weeks · 2022PostmenopausalCited 14 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women randomized to 12 months of moderate to vigorous exercise improved fitness and had slightly lower estradiol, but researchers found no change in estrogen metabolite pathways linked to breast cancer risk.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 306 women · 52 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 11 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 postmenopausal women, 12 weeks of moderate aerobic walking/jogging increased vitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels and altered ECG indices compared with controls, with some changes persisting after detraining.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 31 women · 12 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 15 timesPubMed
173 sedentary, overweight postmenopausal women exercised 45 minutes 5 days a week for 12 months; prolactin levels overall did not change, but those with the largest fitness gains had reduced prolactin.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 173 women · 52 weeks · 2007PostmenopausalCited 13 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors with overweight or obesity did 52 weeks of exercise, diet, or both; none of the interventions significantly changed estradiol, SHBG, or testosterone versus control.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 269 women · 52 weeks · 2022PostmenopausalCited 7 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did 6 months of cycle ergometer aerobic training with or without estrogen therapy, and aerobic training prevented the daytime blood pressure rise seen with estrogen alone.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 47 women · 26 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 12 timesPubMed
Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women did jogging, gymnastics and wrist weight exercises for up to a year, which stopped bone density loss at the wrist after the first six months.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 83 women · 52 weeks · 1998Midlife womenCited 11 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women who did a 6-month weight loss program with or without aerobic or resistance exercise reduced body fat, insulin and leptin, but adiponectin levels did not change.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 40 women · 26 weeks · 2003PostmenopausalCited 121 timesPubMed
60 perimenopausal women were randomized to aerobic training, estrogen plus progesterone therapy, or control for 18 months; the hormone therapy group showed better results in 3 of 6 balance measures.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 60 women · 78 weeks · 2007PerimenopausalCited 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
Women approaching menopause given ovarian hormone suppression for 24 weeks, with or without endurance exercise training, showed no difference in energy expenditure or body composition changes between groups.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 34 women · 24 weeks · 2020PerimenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women with vitamin D deficiency did 12 weeks of moderate aerobic training; gene expression and vitamin D rose but pulmonary function and sex hormone levels did not significantly change.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 29 women · 12 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed
Healthy postmenopausal women took low-dose estrogen or placebo for 6 months then cycled; estrogen did not change postexercise blood pressure or sympathetic nerve activity drops.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 18 women · 24 weeks · 2008PostmenopausalCited 8 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women did aerobic training plus diet for 12 weeks and researchers reported greater changes in sex hormones and clotting markers than diet alone.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 40 women · 12 weeks · 2022PostmenopausalCited 4 timesPubMed
Female recreational runners, including postmenopausal women, completed two 1-hour races; carbohydrate mouth rinsing did not change running performance or hormone levels compared with placebo.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 15 women · 2018Midlife womenCited 5 timesPubMed
Eleven active postmenopausal women on oral or transdermal estrogen did 45-minute exercise tests; estradiol rose during exercise only with transdermal estrogen, growth hormone, cortisol and insulin changed in both.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 11 women · 2002PostmenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed
In postmenopausal obese women, aerobic and resistance exercise both reduced weight, body fat and waist circumference and increased maximum oxygen uptake and knee muscle strength, with no change in estrogen.
No difference foundControlled trial · 30 women · 2018PostmenopausalCited 20 timesPubMed
In 16 postmenopausal women, 30 minutes of treadmill exercise raised DHEA and cortisol levels, with hormone therapy users showing higher DHEA and cortisol responses than untreated women.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 16 women · 1997PostmenopausalCited 34 timesPubMed
In 72 postmenopausal women, 16 weeks of aerobic exercise alone or combined with whole-body vibration improved working-memory accuracy and brain signal markers, with vibration showing broader effects.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 72 women · 16 weeks · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
Fifteen postmenopausal women did 30 minutes of treadmill exercise and researchers found leptin declined similarly over time regardless of hormone therapy use or exercise.
No difference foundControlled trial · 15 women · 1999PostmenopausalCited 24 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did 30 minutes of treadmill exercise, and those on hormone therapy showed higher growth hormone release than those not on hormone therapy, with similar prolactin responses.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 17 women · 1998PostmenopausalCited 21 timesPubMed
In 493 women, higher moderate to vigorous and light physical activity, including aerobic activity and weight training, was linked to lower estradiol and higher SHBG levels.
Mixed resultsCross-sectional study · 493 women · 2019Midlife womenCited 6 timesPubMed
Ninety middle-aged Korean women with obesity did three months of aerobic exercise training and researchers found improved body composition, blood pressure, cholesterol and adiponectin levels.
Reported an improvementBefore-and-after study · 90 women · 12 weeks · 2013Midlife womenCited 9 timesPubMed
This study design paper describes a planned year long trial comparing high versus moderate volume aerobic exercise in inactive postmenopausal women, with results not yet reported.
Direction not statedOther · 400 women · 52 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 29 timesPubMed
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.
Mixed resultsOther · 9 women · 2009PostmenopausalCited 23 timesPubMed
A review of RCTs found aerobic exercise decreased testosterone while resistance training increased it in postmenopausal women, with unclear links to cardiovascular health.
Mixed resultsOther · 2023PostmenopausalCited 3 timesPubMed