Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40909191›Full record

ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2025

Effect of resistance exercise on body composition, muscle strength and cardiometabolic health during dietary weight loss in people living with overweight or obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Ahmad Binmahfoz, Anas Dighriri, Cindy Gray, Stuart R Gray

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ahmad BinmahfozDepartment of Public Health, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7910-2717
Anas DighririUniversity of Glasgow School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Cindy GrayUniversity of Glasgow School of Social and Political Sciences, Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Stuart R GrayUniversity of Glasgow School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of obesity has tripled over the past 35 years. Although caloric restriction reduces body fat, lean tissue is also lost. Resistance exercise may mitigate these effects. This review assesses the effects of resistance exercise on body composition and cardiometabolic health in adults with overweight or obesity undergoing dietary weight loss. Methods: A search was performed in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and CENTRAL. Systematic searches yielded N=6934 studies of which n=25 were relevant for inclusion after screening for eligibility. We included randomised controlled trials of adults (18-65 years) (body mass index ≥25 kg/m Results: Overall, resistance exercise during diet-induced weight loss had no effect on body mass (mean difference between groups: -0.32 kg, p=0.35), with weight loss ranging from -2.5 kg to -20.9 kg in diet plus resistance exercise groups and from -0.7 kg to -20.4 kg in diet-only groups. However, resistance exercise protected against the loss of fat-free mass (between-group standardised mean difference (SMD): 0.40, p=0.0003, moderate certainty) and increased loss of fat mass (SMD: -0.36, p<0.00001, high certainty). Muscular strength was also significantly greater (SMD 2.36, p=0.00001) following the inclusion of resistance exercise (low certainty). No effects of resistance were seen in any of the other cardiometabolic markers studied. Conclusion: In people living with obesity and overweight, the addition of resistance exercise to dietary restriction may enhance its beneficial effects. Current evidence, therefore, supports the implementation of resistance exercise during weight loss to attenuate the loss of fat-free mass (moderate certainty), increase loss of fat mass (high certainty) and improve muscle strength (low certainty). PROSPERO registration number: CRD 42021266482.

Indexed as

Body compositionExercise and/or caloric restriction effects on body weight/compositionMeta-analysisObesityWeight loss

Identifiers

PMID40909191
PMCPMC12406911

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Registered trials

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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.