Exercise-Induced Biological and Psychological Changes in Overweight and Obese Individuals: A Review of Recent Evidence

Table 1

Summary of the studies examined herein showing the effects of exercise on weight management, leptin, adiponectin, growth hormone, and ghrelin levels in overweight and obese individuals.

Study	Exercise type	Individuals	Exercise characteristics	Results
Halle et al., 1999 [28]	Aerobic	Obese/type 2 diabetic	4 wk, 5 days/wk, 30 min/day, 70% of VO2 max	↓ leptin levels, ↓ body weight
Yamaguchi et al., 2011 [29]	High intensity aerobic	Obese/type 2 diabetic	4 wk, 2 times/day, 30 min/day, anaerobic threshold	Significantly negative correlation of growth hormone levels with visceral fat
Hunter et al., 2010 [30]	Aerobic and resistance	Overweight women	8 wk; aerobic: 2 days/wk, 40 min, 80% VO2 max; resistance: 2 days/wk, 11 exercises, 2 sets/10 repetitions	Regain 3.5 kg/body weight compared to 6.4 kg of the nonexercisers
Davis et al., 2009 [18]	Aerobic and resistance	Overweight adolescent girls	16 wk, 5 days/wk, 30 min aerobic + 30 min resistance	↓ body weight, BMI, total body fat and fasting glucose
Irving et al., 2009 [31]	Aerobic	Obese/metabolic syndrome	16 wk, 3–5 days/wk, 350–400 kcal/session	↑ growth hormone levels
Ross et al., 2000 [32]	Aerobic	Obese men	3-month, energy expenditure per exercise session 700 kcal	8% ↓ body weight
Leidy et al., 2004 [33]	Aerobic	Overweight	3-month, 5 times/wk, 70–80% VO2 max, 480 ± 126 kcal/session	↑ ghrelin levels
Redman et al., 2010 [34]	Aerobic	Overweight	6-month, 5 days/wk, 30–60 min	↑ ghrelin levels
Kondo et al., 2006 [35]	Aerobic	Obese	7-month, 4-5 days/wk, 30–60 min/day, 60–70% VO2 max	↑ adiponectin levels

VO₂ max: maximal oxygen uptake, kg: kilograms, BMI: body mass index, kcal: kilocalories.