Effects of Calorie Restriction With and Without Strength, Endurance or Mixed Training on Fat‐Free and Skeletal Muscle Mass in Overweight or Obese Individuals—A Systematic Review With Pairwise Meta‐Analysis and Network Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies
Pooled result · FFMResult — go to the resultMD +0.87 kg 95% CI +0.59, +1.16Authors' conclusion
Exercise training is very effective in reducing FFM loss during CR.
Study context
- Population
- Overweight/obese patients undergoing calorie restriction; RCTs from PubMed and Web of Science
- Participants
- 1,455 patients34 RCTs
- Comparison
- Calorie restriction (CR) plus exercise (EX) vs CR alone
- Outcome
- FFM (and SMM)
Methodological detailspairwise meta-analysis, network meta-analysis, random-effects model
- Pairwise meta-analysis
- Network meta-analysis
- Random-effects model
Pooled result
FFM
MD
+0.87 kg
95% CI +0.59, +1.16
P ≤ 0.001
As reported in the abstract
- On average, EX prevented nearly half of fat-free mass (FFM) loss
- 45.7%
Further pooled results
| Outcome | MD (kg) (95% CI) | P value |
|---|---|---|
| FFM by training mode (network meta-analysis)Mixed training vs CR · P-score = 0.93 · network meta-analysis | +1.20 (+0.67, +1.73) | P < 0.001 |
| FFM by training mode (network meta-analysis)Strength training vs CR · P-score = 0.66 · network meta-analysis | +0.83 (+0.17, +1.49) | P = 0.013 |
| FFM by training mode (network meta-analysis)Endurance training vs CR · P-score = 0.41 · network meta-analysis | +0.51 (−0.04, +1.05) | P = 0.067 |
FFM by training mode (subgroup testing)
- No significant differences between training modes; point estimates suggested greater benefits with strength training
Skeletal muscle mass (SMM)
- Only two studies reported SMM, both indicating muscle-preserving effects of EX
Original publication
Effects of Calorie Restriction With and Without Strength, Endurance or Mixed Training on Fat‐Free and Skeletal Muscle Mass in Overweight or Obese Individuals—A Systematic Review With Pairwise Meta‐Analysis and Network Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies. Diabetes Obes Metab. Published 17 May 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →