GRADE summary of findings.
| Outcome | Anticipated absolute effects (95% CI) | Number of participants (RCTs) | Certainty | ||
| Risk with control group | Risk with resistance exercise training | ||||
| Cardiovascular morbidity/mortality | Could not be calculated due to lack of reporting. | ||||
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | ST | 115.45 mm Hg | MD 3.17 mm Hg lower (6.95 lower to 0.60 higher) | 116 (4 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *†‡ |
| MT | 122.8 mm Hg | MD 4.02 mm Hg lower (5.92 lower to 2.11 lower) | 1456 (46 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *†‡ | |
| LT | 131.6 mm Hg | MD 5.08 mm Hg lower (10.04 lower to 0.13 higher) | 366 (8 RCTs) | ⊕⊕◯◯ LOW*‡ | |
| Mean arterial pressure (mm Hg) | ST | 86.5 mm Hg | MD 3.31 mm Hg lower (6.86 lower to 0.78 higher) | 67 (3 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *†‡§ |
| MT | 79.6 mm Hg | MD 1.57 mm Hg lower (4.60 lower to 1.46 higher) | 238 (10 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *†‡§ | |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | ST | 65.2 mm Hg | MD 0.72 mm Hg lower (3.66 lower to 2.22 higher) | 116 (4 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW* † ‡ |
| MT | 74.3 mm Hg | MD 1.73 mm Hg lower (2.88 lower to 0.57 lower) | 1418 (45 RCTs) | ⊕⊕◯◯ LOW*‡ | |
| LT | 76 mm Hg | MD 4.93 mm Hg lower (8.58 lower to 1.28 lower) | 346 (7 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *†‡§ | |
| Resting heart rate (bpm) | ST | 72 bpm | MD 2.66 bpm lower (7.55 lower to 2.23 higher) | 30 (2 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *†‡§ |
| MT | 67.8 bpm | MD 0.35 bpm higher (1.44 lower to 2.13 higher) | 977 (35 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ | |
| LT | 57.4 bpm | MD 0.48 bpm lower (3.12 lower to 2.17 higher) | 142 (5 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *†‡¶ | |
| Flow-mediated dilatation (%) | 7.8% | MD 1.69 % higher (0.97 higher to 2.41 higher) | 138 (6 RCTs) | ⊕⊕◯◯ LOW*‡ | |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | ST | 179.3 mg/dL | MD 5.55 mg/dL lower (9.62 lower to 5.47 higher) | 146 (3 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *‡¶ |
| MT | 180.9 mg/dL | MD 0.57 mg/dL higher (5.63 lower to 6.77 higher) | 882 (32 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ | |
| LT | 198.6 mg/dL | MD 8.71 mg/dL lower (30.83 lower to 13.40 higher) | 212 (8 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡§¶ | |
| High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mg/dL) | ST | 53.8 mg/dL | MD 0.82 mg/dL higher (5.40 lower to 7.03 higher) | 146 (3 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡¶ |
| MT | 53.3 mg/dL | MD 2.23 mg/dL higher (0.06 lower to 4.51 higher) | 1191 (39 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ | |
| LT | 53.5 mg/dL | MD 2.79 mg/dL higher (0.69 lower to 6.82 higher) | 339 (9 RCTs) | ⊕⊕◯◯ LOW*‡ | |
| Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mg/dL) | ST | 105.6 mg/dL | MD 5.10 mg/dL lower (11.09 lower to 0.90 higher) | 146 (3 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡¶ |
| MT | 110.1 mg/dL | MD 2.86 mg/dL lower (8.77 lower to 3.05 higher) | 1000 (31 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ | |
| LT | 118.3 mg/dL | MD 3.69 mg/dL lower (10.99 lower to 3.60 higher) | 265 (6 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡ | |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | ST | 115.2 mg/dL | MD 3.63 mg/dL lower (17.45 lower to 10.20 higher) | 146 (3 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡¶ |
| MT | 91.8 mg/dL | MD 3.99 mg/dL lower (8.78 lower to 0.80 higher) | 1165 (37 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ | |
| LT | 102.7 mg/dL | MD 2.82 mg/dL lower (14.98 lower to 9.33 higher) | 265 (6 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡ | |
| Fasted insulin (μU/mL) | MT | 16.2 μU/mL | MD 0.59 μU/mL lower (0.97 lower to 0.21 lower) | 590 (20 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ |
| LT | 13.8 μU/mL | MD 0.40 μU/mL lower (1.62 lower to 0.81 higher) | 179 (4 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡§ | |
| HOMA-IR | MT | 6.1 | MD 1.22 lower (2.29 lower to 0.15 lower) | 184 (9 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡§ |
| LT | 3.8 | MD 0.18 lower (0.64 lower to 0.27 higher) | 71 (3 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡ | |
| Fasted glucose (mg/dL) | ST | 87.3 mg/dL | MD 3.39 mg/dL lower (6.90 lower to 0.11 higher) | 122 (2 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡ |
| MT | 100.7 mg/dL | MD 2.39 mg/dL lower (4.47 lower to 0.31 lower) | 984 (34 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ | |
| LT | 92.3 mg/dL | MD 0.07 mg/dL lower (2.80 lower to 2.67 higher) | 271 (7 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡§ | |
| C reactive protein (mg/L) | ST | 2.4 mg/L | MD 0.43 mg/L lower (1.05 lower to 0.19 lower) | 82 (2 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡¶ |
| MT | 3.2 mg/L | MD 0.28 mg/L lower (0.72 lower to 0.15 higher) | 394 (12 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ | |
| Aerobic capacity (mL/kg/min) | ST | 28.6 mL/kg/min | MD 2.07 mL/kg/min higher (0.75 higher to 3.39 higher) | 308 (9 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*†‡ |
| MT | 28.9 mL/kg/min | MD 1.07 mL/kg/min higher (0.38 higher to 1.76 higher) | 1454 (48 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW*‡§ ¶ | |
| LT | 23 mL/kg/min | MD 1.22 mL/kg/min higher (0.44 higher to 2.00 higher) | 399 (11 RCTs) | ⊕◯◯◯ VERY LOW *‡¶ | |
*Downgraded due to being a surrogate outcome.
†Downgraded due to potential for a recommendation or clinical course of action differing if the upper versus the lower boundary of the CI represented the truth and/or a sample size <400.
‡Publication bias suspected after inspection of funnel plots.
§Inconsistent due to high heterogeneity, non-overlap of CI and/or markedly dissimilar point estimates.
¶Risk of bias was judged to be high.
LT, long term; MD, mean difference; MT, medium term; RCTs, randomised controlled trials; ST, short term.