In the authors' words
“Small-to-moderate significant increases (k = 43; SMD = 0.44; 95% CI 0.28; 0.60; p < 0.0001) of lean body mass were observed in post-menopausal and elderly women, regardless of age, intervention period, weekly training frequency and no. of exercises.”
What was measured
- Muscle mass Reported an improvement
- Body fat and weight No difference found
About the study
- Type
- Meta-analysis
- Who took part
- Postmenopausal
- How many
- 745
- How long
- 16 weeks
- Exercise
- Resistance training
- Cited
- 27 times, per Europe PMC
- PubMed ID
- 33880736
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.
Similar studies
- A meta-analysis of 101 trials with 5,697 postmenopausal women found aerobic training reduced fat mass and resistance training increased muscle mass, with combined training offering both benefits.
- A meta-analysis of 17 trials in breast cancer survivors, including postmenopausal women, found exercise training, especially resistance training, increased lean body mass compared with usual care.
- A review of 28 randomised trials in postmenopausal women aged 50 to 65 found walking combined with resistance training could preserve weight and bone density and increase muscle strength.
- A meta-analysis of 12 trials found resistance training in postmenopausal women improved functional capacity, bone density, and reduced hot flash frequency and fat mass versus no exercise.