Research
Hormonal
Physical activity significantly increases Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) and decreases free testosterone, androstenedione, and DHEA-sulfate in women.
Exercise helps improve your hormonal profile by increasing SHBG (which binds excess hormones) and lowering free testosterone and other androgens. This is particularly beneficial for women with PCOS, where SHBG increases were most pronounced.
GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Meta-analysis for secondary outcomes found that physical activity induces a statistically significant decline of free testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone–sulfate and adiposity markers, while a significant increase of SHBG was observed.
Why this rating
Based on meta-analysis of RCTs, though heterogeneity was higher for some secondary outcomes (e.g., SHBG I2=75%).
Source
Effect of physical activity on sex hormones in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Kaoutar Ennour‐Idrissi et al. · Breast Cancer Research · 2015
DOI 10.1186/s13058-015-0647-3
Meta-analysis · 18 studiesCited 190×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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