Mixed
Adding aerobic or combined aerobic-resistance exercise to a hypocaloric high-protein diet improves body composition (greater fat mass loss and fat-free mass preservation) in overweight/obese women with PCOS, but provides no additional benefit for cardiometabolic, hormonal, or reproductive outcomes compared to diet alone.
If you have PCOS and are overweight, a structured hypocaloric high-protein diet is sufficient to improve your heart health, hormones, and fertility markers. Adding exercise won't make these specific health markers improve *more* than the diet does. However, you should still exercise because it helps you lose more fat and keep more muscle, which is crucial for long-term weight maintenance and body composition.
In overweight and obese women with PCOS, the addition of aerobic or combined aerobic-resistance exercise to an energy-restricted diet improved body composition but had no additional effect on improvements in cardiometabolic, hormonal, and reproductive outcomes relative to diet alone.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with 94 participants, clear intervention protocols, and statistically significant results for body composition differences.
Source
The Effect of a Hypocaloric Diet with and without Exercise Training on Body Composition, Cardiometabolic Risk Profile, and Reproductive Function in Overweight and Obese Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Rebecca L. Thomson et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2008
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