Health · Medical Research · 1 hr ago
Review finds exercise benefits, but no workout type is clearly superior
Researchers in China reviewed 48 studies of exercise and chronic disease in people with, or at risk of, long-term health conditions.
The studies provided 93 estimates of exercise effects on health indicators.
Across the outcomes, exercise showed an overall statistical benefit, but that combined result was hard to interpret because some indicators improve when they rise and others when they fall.
Aerobic exercise was the only type with a significant pooled effect in the main analysis.
Results for resistance training and combined aerobic and resistance exercise were uncertain, and no exercise type was shown to be superior to the others.
The review aimed to compare results by disease and region, but the available findings do not establish which workouts work best for particular conditions or populations.
A review of 48 studies found that physical activity benefited people with or at risk of chronic disease.
Aerobic exercise was the only exercise type with a statistically significant pooled effect in the primary analysis.
The researchers found no statistically significant evidence that one exercise type was superior to another.
Results varied considerably between studies, and evidence was uneven across exercise types.
The analysis included 93 estimates of exercise effects.
- Who
- Researchers from four Chinese institutions conducted the review.
- What
- They analyzed studies on exercise and health indicators in people with or at risk of chronic disease.
- When
- The final database search was conducted on February 20, 2024; the review was published on November 11, 2026.
- Where
- The researchers were from institutions in China. The review compared findings across geographic regions.
- Why
- The researchers examined whether exercise benefits differed by exercise type, health indicator, disease type, or region.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The review searched for eligible studies published through this month.
The researchers conducted the final database search.
News-Medical published its report on the review.
- Studies included
- 48
- Exercise-effect estimates
- 93
- Aerobic exercise estimates
- 70
- Resistance exercise estimates
- 7
- Combined exercise estimates
- 16
- Final database search
- February 20, 2024