Adherence
Exercise training has no significant effect on weight maintenance (prevention of weight regain) after an initial weight loss phase.
Exercise alone is not enough to keep weight off after you've lost it. To maintain your weight loss, you need to focus on sustainable dietary changes, as exercise has not been shown to prevent weight regain on its own.
No significant effect of exercise was found on weight maintenance (1 SR-MA)... These studies reported no evidence of a beneficial effect of exercise on weight maintenance.
Why this rating
Based on only one systematic review and one additional randomized controlled trial, indicating a lack of robust evidence.
Source
Effect of exercise training on weight loss, body composition changes, and weight maintenance in adults with overweight or obesity: An overview of 12 systematic reviews and 149 studies
Alice Bellicha et al. · Obesity Reviews · 2021
DOI 10.1111/obr.13256
More from this paper
- Exercise training produces significant weight loss (1.5–3.5 kg) and fat loss (1.3–2.6 kg) in adults with overweight or obesity, with no significant difference between aerobic and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) when energy expenditure is equalized.Good
- Exercise training, particularly aerobic and HIIT, leads to significant loss of visceral adipose tissue, which may provide cardiometabolic health benefits.Good
- Resistance training reduces the loss of lean body mass during diet-induced weight loss, particularly in older adults with obesity.Moderate
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →