A meta-analysis of 32 studies in postmenopausal women found aerobic, resistance and combined exercise training reduced inflammatory markers IL-6, TNF-alpha and CRP, and increased adiponectin, versus control.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,510 participants pooled · 2021PostmenopausalCited 58 timesPubMed
A meta-analysis of 34 RCTs found exercise of at least eight weeks reduced CRP, TNF-alpha and IL-6, and increased adiponectin in postmenopausal women with overweight or obesity.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2,229 participants pooled · 8 weeks · 2023PostmenopausalCited 25 timesPubMed
A meta-analysis of 20 trials in overweight or obese postmenopausal and older women found resistance training improved body fat, metabolic risk and inflammation, with higher training volume giving larger glucose and inflammation improvements.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2024PostmenopausalCited 15 timesPubMed
A meta-analysis of 12 trials in postmenopausal women found resistance training reduced C-reactive protein and improved lipid profile but had little effect on waist circumference.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 482 participants pooled · 2022PostmenopausalCited 3 timesPubMed
A meta-analysis of 23 trials in 1001 postmenopausal women found concurrent aerobic and resistance training modestly improved body composition and metabolic markers, with no significant change in inflammation markers.
No difference foundMeta-analysis · 1,001 participants pooled · 2026PostmenopausalCited 2 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.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2,714 participants pooled · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
Over one year, overweight postmenopausal women on a calorie restriction diet, with or without exercise, showed reduced inflammatory markers compared to controls, while exercise alone showed smaller effects.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 438 women · 52 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 193 timesPubMed
A meta-analysis of 30 RCTs in overweight or obese postmenopausal women found structured exercise reduced inflammatory markers TNF-alpha and CRP, with higher intensity linked to greater TNF-alpha reduction.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2,124 participants pooled · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
A meta-analysis of 15 trials in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors with metabolic syndrome found medically supervised exercise reduced inflammatory markers and improved quality of life and lymphedema.
Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,197 participants pooled · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors cycling three times weekly for 15 weeks showed improved heart rate recovery and a non-significant drop in C-reactive protein versus controls.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 52 women · 15 weeks · 2005PostmenopausalCited 140 timesPubMed
A 6-month aerobic exercise program in overweight postmenopausal women with elevated blood pressure increased fitness and reduced weight and waist circumference but did not change blood pressure or lipid or inflammatory markers.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 267 women · 26 weeks · 2009PostmenopausalCited 90 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.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 33 women · 14 weeks · 2005PostmenopausalCited 150 timesPubMed
In 115 obese or overweight sedentary postmenopausal women, a yearlong moderate-intensity aerobic exercise program reduced C-reactive protein by 10% versus an increase in stretching controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 115 women · 52 weeks · 2009PostmenopausalCited 106 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women did 6 months of hypocaloric diet with or without exercise; diet plus exercise, but not diet alone, lowered CRP and other inflammatory markers.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 34 women · 26 weeks · 2004PostmenopausalCited 149 timesPubMed
In postmenopausal breast cancer survivors doing six months of aerobic exercise, researchers found no significant effect on inflammatory markers compared with usual care overall.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 75 women · 26 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 102 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women did aerobic exercise five days a week for a year, gaining fitness and losing weight, with oxidative stress markers decreasing most in those with the largest fitness gains.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 173 women · 52 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 88 timesPubMed
In obese postmenopausal breast cancer survivors, 16 weeks of combined aerobic and resistance exercise reduced adipose tissue inflammatory markers and improved body composition versus controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 20 women · 16 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 99 timesPubMed
In 107 overweight postmenopausal women over 6 months, adding resistance training to calorie restriction reduced body fat more but did not further improve lipids, insulin or inflammation markers versus diet alone.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 107 women · 26 weeks · 2009PostmenopausalCited 87 timesPubMed
In 390 sedentary overweight postmenopausal women, six months of higher dose aerobic exercise reduced total white blood cell and neutrophil counts more than lower doses or no exercise.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 390 women · 26 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 59 timesPubMed
Twenty three obese postmenopausal women did 12 weeks of resistance training and researchers found increased strength and reduced C-reactive protein, leptin and TNF-alpha, with no change in body composition.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 23 women · 12 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 103 timesPubMed
Healthy postmenopausal women did one year of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise versus usual inactivity, and exercisers showed reduced C-reactive protein but no change in IL-6 or TNF-alpha.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 160 women · 52 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 61 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women did 6 months of resistance and aerobic exercise with or without soy isoflavones; exercise reduced fat mass and increased lean mass, with no added benefit from isoflavones.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 100 women · 26 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 65 timesPubMed
In overweight postmenopausal women, 16 weeks of weight loss mainly through exercise reduced CRP and leptin levels, with possibly greater effect on CRP than diet-induced weight loss.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 243 women · 16 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 48 timesPubMed
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.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 46 women · 12 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 70 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did low or high volume resistance training three times weekly for 16 weeks, and both groups gained strength while high volume training reduced waist size, cholesterol and inflammation more.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 32 women · 16 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 70 timesPubMed
Middle-aged women did 12 weeks of Baduanjin qigong and showed reduced inflammatory marker IL-6 and maintained bone mineral density compared to a no-training control group.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 87 women · 12 weeks · 2006Midlife womenCited 68 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors did one year of resistance training versus placebo control, and those who gained strength or lost weight showed reduced inflammatory markers like CRP.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 215 women · 52 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 40 timesPubMed
In 421 sedentary postmenopausal women, 6 months of aerobic exercise at three different doses did not improve C-reactive protein, though weight loss was linked to CRP improvement.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 421 women · 26 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 42 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women following a calorie-restricted diet and exercise, with or without soy isoflavones, for 6 months showed lower leptin and TNF-alpha, with adiponectin rising only in the soy group.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 87 women · 26 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 56 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women with fatty liver disease did 24 weeks of supervised aerobic activity, reducing waist circumference, raising HDL cholesterol, and improving fitness versus controls.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 40 women · 24 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 51 timesPubMed
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
Postmenopausal women did a 1-year diet and/or physical activity program, and inflammation marker CRP improved mainly with diet, not with physical activity alone.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 125 women · 52 weeks · 2010PostmenopausalCited 42 timesPubMed
In two trials of inactive postmenopausal women doing prescribed aerobic exercise for a year, exercise did not significantly change anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 or IL-10 compared with controls.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 720 women · 52 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 25 timesPubMed
In 34 men and postmenopausal women, 6 weeks of increased daily walking reduced triglycerides, while raisins and walking together lowered blood pressure and cholesterol, researchers reported.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 34 women · 6 weeks · 2008Midlife womenCited 55 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women followed a calorie restricted diet with or without combined aerobic and anaerobic exercise for 12 weeks, and diet reduced clotting-related blood markers with no added effect from exercise.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 121 women · 12 weeks · 1996PostmenopausalCited 52 timesPubMed
Elderly postmenopausal women did a 12 week home bench step exercise program, and those with lower starting HDL cholesterol showed increased HDL and reduced an inflammatory marker.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 62 women · 12 weeks · 2015PostmenopausalCited 37 timesPubMed
Patients with knee osteoarthritis, including postmenopausal women, did 6 weeks of isokinetic or aerobic exercise and reported less pain and more muscle strength, with no significant drop in inflammatory markers.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 42 women · 6 weeks · 2015Midlife womenCited 39 timesPubMed
Inactive postmenopausal women did a year of moderate or high volume aerobic exercise, and researchers found no significant difference in inflammatory markers between the two prescribed volumes.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 386 women · 52 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 24 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women did a 12 month calorie restriction, aerobic exercise, or combined diet and exercise program; diet related arms showed greater drops in dietary inflammatory index, mostly explained by weight loss.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 365 women · 52 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 20 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women did 12 weeks of HIIT or combined training three times weekly, and HIIT reduced visceral fat more and increased interleukin-6 compared to combined training.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 26 women · 12 weeks · 2019PostmenopausalCited 33 timesPubMed
In postmenopausal women at high risk of type 2 diabetes, 12 weeks of high-intensity bodyweight training and combined aerobic-resistance training both improved muscle mass, walk test performance and insulin resistance, but only combined training increased strength.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 16 women · 12 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 37 timesPubMed
In postmenopausal women with obesity aged 68 to 72, 12 weeks of moderate intensity walking reduced weight, body fat and inflammatory markers CRP, IL-6 and TNF-alpha compared to controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 26 women · 12 weeks · 2023PostmenopausalCited 29 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
Postmenopausal women did exercise plus Mediterranean diet, with or without soy isoflavones, for 24 months; the soy group showed greater drops in fat mass, glucose, insulin and inflammation markers.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 65 women · 104 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 30 timesPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women lost weight via diet alone or exercise plus diet over 16 weeks, and fat loss was linked to favorable changes in sex hormones and inflammatory markers.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 243 women · 16 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 20 timesPubMed
In postmenopausal women aged 50 to 80, 8 weeks of avenanthramide supplementation reduced inflammatory markers after downhill walking compared to a low-dose control group.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 16 women · 8 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 37 timesPubMed
In 72 postmenopausal women, 8 weeks of circuit resistance training at low or moderate intensity, with or without Zataria supplementation, reduced body fat and inflammatory markers RBP-4 and TNF-alpha.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 72 women · 8 weeks · 2019PostmenopausalCited 24 timesPubMed
Twenty two postmenopausal women did two months of walking and cycling, and the exercise group showed increased pentraxin 3, HDL cholesterol, peak oxygen uptake and arterial compliance.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 22 women · 8 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 35 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did 10 weeks of combined aerobic and resistance training with or without isoflavone supplement; exercise alone was linked to lower total cholesterol and higher IL-8, with no added effect of isoflavone.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 32 women · 10 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 27 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women with hot flushes did 15 weeks of resistance training, which lowered blood levels of adiponectin, lipocalin-2 and resistin compared with sedentary controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 55 women · 15 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 23 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women did 6 months of mixed exercise training with or without phytoestrogens, and both groups had reduced CRP and leptin, with no added benefit from phytoestrogens.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 52 women · 26 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 28 timesPubMed
Overweight or obese postmenopausal women did 6 months of mixed exercise with isoflavone supplement or placebo; the isoflavone group showed greater reductions in fat mass and CRP inflammation than exercise alone.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 34 women · 26 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 24 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
Obese postmenopausal women who did 20 weeks of combined aerobic and strength exercise showed reduced inflammatory marker TNF-alpha, with effects differing by dyslipidemia status.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 70 women · 20 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 16 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
In a 24-month trial, postmenopausal women with high breast density doing moderate-intensity physical activity showed lower levels of two inflammatory markers than controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 234 women · 104 weeks · 2020PostmenopausalCited 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
Perimenopausal women did 4 months of concurrent aerobic and resistance training; the exercise group showed lower LDL cholesterol than a counseling-only group.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 150 women · 16 weeks · 2018PerimenopausalCited 12 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women did aerobic treadmill exercise plus diet for 3 months and showed reduced inflammatory and endothelial markers versus no intervention.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 80 women · 12 weeks · 2016PostmenopausalCited 14 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women on calorie restriction with or without aerobic exercise for 20 weeks lost similar weight and had similar reductions in a lipid-related blood marker, sLOX-1.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 61 women · 20 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 16 timesPubMed
In 84 sedentary climacteric women with metabolic syndrome, 24 weeks of yoga reduced metabolic syndrome frequency and improved waist circumference, blood pressure, lipids, glucose and inflammation markers compared with controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 84 women · 24 weeks · 2024Midlife womenCited 9 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women did 12 weeks of resistance training, which increased a receptor linked to inflammation regulation and lowered monocyte count compared with controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 23 women · 12 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 15 timesPubMed
In postmenopausal women averaging 56 years, 12 weeks of treadmill exercise improved waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, interleukin-6 levels and exercise capacity compared to a control group.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 46 women · 12 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 11 timesPubMed
In 31 postmenopausal women given soy or dairy milk for 28 days then a downhill run, soy supplementation did not reduce exercise-induced increases in muscle proteolysis genes.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 31 women · 4 weeks · 2012PostmenopausalCited 12 timesPubMed
Sixteen normotensive postmenopausal women did 30 minutes of aerobic exercise with or without l-arginine, and exercise alone lowered systolic blood pressure over 24 hours without changing inflammatory markers.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 16 women · 2016PostmenopausalCited 12 timesPubMed
In healthy older women, 8 weeks of resistance training combined with fish oil increased handgrip strength and lowered blood pressure and inflammatory markers more than resistance training with placebo.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 20 women · 8 weeks · 2023PostmenopausalCited 8 timesPubMed
Sedentary overweight or obese postmenopausal women underwent a diet based weight loss program with or without resistance training, and visceral fat measured by two methods decreased similarly after the intervention.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 92 women · 2012PostmenopausalCited 6 timesPubMed
In over 27,000 healthy US women averaging age 55, lower self-reported physical activity was linked to worse cholesterol and inflammatory marker levels, though body weight mattered more.
Reported a worseningCross-sectional study · 27,158 women · 2006Midlife womenCited 247 timesPubMed
Premenopausal women did 8 weeks of moderate or brisk walking, and brisk walking increased fitness and reduced IL-6 compared with moderate walking and controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 30 women · 8 weeks · 2017OtherCited 6 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women aged 65 to 80 who resistance trained for two years had lower cell-surface TLR4 than untrained women, but plasma inflammatory cytokine levels did not differ.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 20 women · 2004PostmenopausalCited 100 timesPubMed
A review reported that aerobic and resistance exercise in postmenopausal women with osteoarthritis improved joint function, reduced pain and modulated inflammatory markers.
Reported an improvementSystematic review · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
Overweight postmenopausal women added walking to a weight loss program and showed a 2% increase in femoral neck bone density versus weight loss alone, linked to reduced inflammatory markers.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 86 women · 2009PostmenopausalCited 59 timesPubMed
In 14 postmenopausal women doing a single bout of maximal eccentric leg exercise, those not using hormone therapy showed greater muscle damage markers than those using hormone therapy.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 14 women · 2009PostmenopausalCited 81 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women did lower-load or higher-load resistance training; lower-load training gave slightly greater leg lean mass gains, with similar strength and inflammatory marker changes.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 29 women · 2022PostmenopausalCited 4 timesPubMed
A trial plans to randomize 40 postmenopausal women with late onset asthma to 12 weeks of supervised spinning versus usual care, measuring change in asthma symptom control.
Direction not statedRandomised trial · 40 women · 12 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 3 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis did a 4-month sedentary-behavior reduction program; it did not change sedentary time, activity, or most cardiometabolic and quality of life measures.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 103 women · 16 weeks · 2025PostmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed
In 85 inactive postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, a home-based dual-task exercise program improved executive function, physical performance and HDL, and reduced IL-10 and TNF, but did not change diabetes indices overall.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 85 women · 2025PostmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed
Older postmenopausal women did elastic band resistance training with or without seawater supplement for 32 weeks, and both groups reported lower systolic blood pressure, with inflammation reduced in the seawater group.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 93 women · 32 weeks · 2024PostmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed
A 10-week intermittent walking programme in 36 sedentary postmenopausal women with obesity reported improved liver enzymes, lower CRP, reduced body fat and waist size, and higher aerobic capacity.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 36 women · 10 weeks · 2026Early postmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed
Sedentary postmenopausal women did a 1-year elastic band resistance training program and showed reduced weight, waist circumference, cholesterol, and inflammation compared to controls.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 38 women · 52 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 31 timesPubMed
Sedentary overweight postmenopausal women did resistance training 1, 2 or 3 days weekly for 16 weeks; strength and muscle mass improved in all groups, but only 3 days weekly prevented rises in glucose and CRP.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 30 women · 16 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 33 timesPubMed
Sedentary postmenopausal women did 13 weeks of moderate walking training; it lowered inflammatory TNF-alpha and cortisol/DHEA-S ratio and reduced cardiovascular measures regardless of ACE gene type.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 36 women · 13 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 27 timesPubMed
Obese postmenopausal women did 20 weeks of combined aerobic and resistance training and showed reduced body fat, increased lean mass, and reduced TNF-alpha compared with non-exercisers.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 70 women · 20 weeks · 2017PostmenopausalCited 19 timesPubMed
In a crossover trial, 13 trained postmenopausal women did high load and low load resistance exercise sessions, both altering circulating monocyte immune marker expression without differing between loads.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 13 women · 2026PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed
In 40 postmenopausal women, 12 weeks of whole-body resistance training at either lower or higher load improved adiponectin, body fat, muscle strength and walking performance similarly.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 40 women · 12 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 15 timesPubMed
In middle-aged women, a single session of resistance exercise or intense spinning both increased oxidative stress markers and temporarily lowered immune cell counts after exercise.
Reported a worseningControlled trial · 34 women · 2012Midlife womenCited 16 timesPubMed
Sedentary postmenopausal women aged 60 to 75 with dyslipidemia did 10 weeks of Pilates, which improved cardiorespiratory fitness but did not change cholesterol or lipid levels compared to controls.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 26 women · 10 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 13 timesPubMed
Overweight premenopausal and postmenopausal women did a 16-week brisk walking program, which lowered glucose area under the curve but did not improve the overall cardiometabolic risk profile.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 30 women · 16 weeks · 2013Midlife womenCited 15 timesPubMed
In 36 postmenopausal women with obesity, 10 weeks of moderate-intensity interval walking training modestly reduced waist size and body fat, and improved kidney and inflammation markers versus controls.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 36 women · 10 weeks · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
Postmenopausal women with overweight or obesity did 16 weeks of resistance training and/or DHA supplementation, with muscle quality improving more with resistance training and cardiometabolic markers improving more with DHA.
Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 16 weeks · 2025PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed
In 23 sedentary middle-aged women, six weeks of resistance training combined with electrical stimulation reduced LDL and total cholesterol more than resistance training alone, with no difference in glucose or CRP.
No difference foundRandomised trial · 23 women · 6 weeks · 2026Midlife womenPubMed
Thirteen postmenopausal women performed high-load and low-load resistance exercise in a crossover trial; high-load training increased CD4+ T cells expressing HSP27 and IL-10 more than low-load training, researchers found.
Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 13 women · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed
24 physically active postmenopausal women did one resistance exercise session, which increased several inflammatory gene signals in muscle but not in blood.
Mixed resultsBefore-and-after study · 24 women · 2009PostmenopausalCited 78 timesPubMed
Twenty postmenopausal women at risk for heart disease did a 2 week diet and daily walking program and showed reduced BMI, insulin, cholesterol, and some inflammatory markers.
Mixed resultsBefore-and-after study · 20 women · 2 weeks · 2004PostmenopausalCited 82 timesPubMed
In 851 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 64, higher leisure physical activity was linked to higher HDL cholesterol and lower insulin and fibrinogen levels, with no link to blood pressure.
Reported an improvementCross-sectional study · 851 women · 1996PostmenopausalCited 44 timesPubMed
Postmenopausal women with obesity who did 4 months of resistance training saw decreased body fat and increased strength and fitness, with smaller effects on cholesterol and no change in blood sugar control.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 51 women · 16 weeks · 2024PostmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed
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
In 133 postmenopausal women, higher physical activity was linked to lower CRP levels, but this association was explained by lower body fat in more active women.
Reported an improvementCross-sectional study · 133 women · 2003PostmenopausalCited 29 timesPubMed
In 48 postmenopausal women with overweight or obesity, 12 weeks of strength training 3 times weekly lowered CRP and showed mixed effects on TNF-alpha, IL-6 and adiponectin versus a daily activity group.
Mixed resultsControlled trial · 48 women · 12 weeks · 2025PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed
Thirty-two postmenopausal women did three months of moderate walking training and researchers found increased DHEA-S and decreased TNF-alpha and cortisol to DHEA-S ratio.
Reported an improvementBefore-and-after study · 32 women · 12 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 26 timesPubMed
Fifteen postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome did 12 weeks of treadmill HIIT and showed improved fitness, reduced inflammatory markers, and increased anti-inflammatory IL-10.
Reported an improvementBefore-and-after study · 15 women · 12 weeks · 2019PostmenopausalCited 24 timesPubMed
In 35 postmenopausal women aged around 63, 16 weeks of periodized resistance training increased maximal strength and reduced inflammatory markers like interleukin-6, leptin and resistin.
Reported an improvementOther · 35 women · 16 weeks · 2009PostmenopausalCited 86 timesPubMed
A review reported that combined diet and aerobic plus strength exercise programmes showed promise for weight control and improved quality of life in breast cancer survivors.
Reported an improvementOther · 2012Midlife womenCited 162 timesPubMed
In overweight or obese postmenopausal women, 12 weeks of combined aerobic and resistance exercise training improved circulating immune cell frequency and mobilization compared with education alone.
Reported an improvementControlled trial · 12 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalPubMed
Breast cancer survivors will do resistance and aerobic exercise with omega-3 supplementation or education for 12 to 24 weeks to test effects on lean body mass; this is a study protocol with no results yet.
Direction not statedOther · 153 women · 24 weeks · 2014Midlife womenCited 12 timesPubMed
Fourteen postmenopausal breast cancer survivors on tamoxifen did 12 weeks of resistance training then 12 weeks of detraining, with fat mass decreasing and muscle strength and cholesterol improving after training.
Mixed resultsOther · 14 women · 12 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 12 timesPubMed
In 12 sedentary postmenopausal women, a single 30 minute brisk walk at moderate or vigorous intensity lowered fasting triglycerides the next morning but did not change CRP or fibrinogen.
No difference foundOther · 12 women · 2008PostmenopausalCited 13 timesPubMed
This review reported that resistance training in postmenopausal women appears to improve body composition and may influence adipokines such as leptin, adiponectin and resistin.
Direction not statedOther · 2022PostmenopausalCited 4 timesPubMed