ReviewPhysiology & behavior2018
Is regular exercise an effective strategy for weight loss maintenance?
Review in Physiology & behavior, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Weight Maintenance after Dietary Weight Loss: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effectiveness of Behavioural Intensive Intervention.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Objectively determined physical activity and adiposity measures in adult women: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Pooled it
- Furthering Scientific Inquiry for Weight Loss Maintenance: Assessing the Psychological Processes Impacted by a Low intensity Technology-Assisted Intervention (NULevel Trial).Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2024Trial
- The Role of Physical Activity in Long-term Weight Loss: 36-month Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2023Trial
- Late isocaloric eating increases hunger, decreases energy expenditure, and modifies metabolic pathways in adults with overweight and obesity.Cell metabolism · 2022Trial
- The effects of daily step goals of 10,000, 12,500, and 15,000 steps per day on neural activity to food cues: A 24-week dose-response randomized trial.Brain and behavior · 2022Trial
- Intervening on exercise and daylong movement for weight loss maintenance in older adults: A randomized, clinical trial.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2022Trial
- Behavioural and psychological pretreatment predictors of short- and long-term weight loss among women with overweight and obesity.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2020Trial
- Physical Activity Intentions and Behavior Mediate Treatment Response in an Acceptance-Based Weight Loss Intervention.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Structured Exercise During and After Incretin-Based Pharmacotherapy Discontinuation: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms, Evidence, and Prescription Guidance.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Article
- Association Between Wake-Time Movement Behaviors and Weight Loss Maintenance.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Article
- Exercise benefits in metabolism on cardiovascular disease.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- The Role of Physical Activity in Minimizing Recurrence of Weight Gain Following Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: Current Evidence and Suggestions for Advancing Future Research.Current obesity reports · 2025Review
- Weight Reduction with GLP-1 Agonists and Paths for Discontinuation While Maintaining Weight Loss.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Review
- Anthropometric Changes in Female Participants Enrolled in a Combined Aerobic and Resistance Training Program for Longer than 1 Year: A Cohort Study.Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome · 2024Article
- Examination of Gender Differences: Causal Attributions of Treatment-Seeking Individuals With Overweight and Obesity.Clinical psychology in Europe · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Weight regain after weight loss is one of the most significant challenges to successful obesity treatment. Regular exercise has long been touted as a strategy for weight loss maintenance, but the lack of clear evidence in clinical trials has caused some to question its effectiveness. In this review, we present the arguments both questioning and in support of exercise as an obesity therapeutic. Our purpose is to bring clarity to the literature, present a unified perspective, and identify the gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed in future studies. Critical questions remain including sex differences, individual variability and compensatory behaviors in response to exercise, exercise adherence, the role of energy flux and the molecular mechanisms mediating the beneficial effects of exercise after weight loss and during weight regain. Future research should focus on these critical questions to provide a more complete understanding of the potential benefits of exercise on weight loss maintenance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.