Exercise plus intermittent fasting reduced body fat measures in pooled trials
The combination improved several body and metabolic measures versus controls, while differences in fat-free and lean body mass were not statistically significant.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Across randomized trials, exercise combined with intermittent fasting improved body fat and metabolic measures compared with a mix of control conditions. Differences in fat-free and lean body mass versus controls were not statistically significant. The abstract does not establish how much extra benefit the combination offers over exercise alone or fasting alone.
The abstract provides no effect sizes, confidence intervals or full duration range. Its pooled results use different controls, and timing patterns from meta-regression cannot establish an individual's best exercise schedule.
What researchers found
Body mass
Combined exercise and intermittent fasting versus exercise alone, fasting alone or neither; assessment timeframe and effect magnitude are not reported.
What changed
Reported improvements included waist size, visceral fat, blood lipids and glucose-related measures. These are body measurements and biomarkers; the abstract does not report whether the intervention reduced cardiovascular events.
Interpreting the lean-mass result
The nonsignificant differences in lean and fat-free mass do not prove equal preservation across groups. Although muscle performance was part of the research question, the abstract does not give a separate result for it.
The original publication
Optimal dosage of exercise combined with intermittent fasting for body composition and cardiometabolic health in adults: a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis.
Jiao M, Yan H, Zhang B et al.
Front Nutr · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41883415
- Record checked
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