Tests how adding exercise to weight loss affects metabolism in adults with obesity
Compares weight loss with moderate exercise against weight loss alone in adults with obesity.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- University of Michigan
- Where
- Ann Arbor, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Metabolic Adaptations to Weight Loss With and Without Exercise
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 68 people, planned
- Started
- 19 Jul 2023
- Expected to end
- 31 May 2028
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groups
- Treatments tested
- MICT Exercise
- No Exercise (Control)
- Record updated
- 14 April 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults aged 18-40 with obesity who are not exercising regularly. They will lose 10% of their weight, with or without exercise training.
- Age
- 18 to 40 years
- Sex
- All sexes. Women must have regular periods and must not have gone through menopause.
- Disease stage
- Body Mass Index of 30-40 kg/m2.
- Earlier treatment
- No regularly planned exercise or physical activity. Weight must have been stable (±3kg (7 lb (3 kg))) for about 2 months or more.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Heart problems on EKG, or a history of heart disease, diabetes or other metabolic disease
- Medicines that affect fat or sugar metabolism
- Pregnant or breastfeeding
- Tobacco or e-cigarette use
- Allergy to insulin, lidocaine-type numbing medicines, or a history of high potassium
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 14 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Age: 18-40
- Body Mass Index: 30-40 kg/m2
- Weight stable (±3kg for greater than or equal to about 2 months)
- No regularly planned exercise/physical activity
- Women must have regularly occurring menses and must be premenopausal
Who cannot take part
- Evidence/history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes or other metabolic disease
- Allergies/hypersensitivity to local anesthetics of the amide type (e.g., lidocaine)
- Anti-coagulant medication (e.g., Coumadin, Rivaroxaban) and Lidocaine allergy/sensitivity are exclusion criteria for the biopsy procedure
- Medications known to affect lipid or glucose metabolism
- Prior experience of hypersensitivity to insulin, human albumin, and potassium chloride injection
- History of hyperkalemia or potential for developing hyperkalemia (including but not limited to taking drugs that may induce hyperkalemia such as cardiac glycosides or potassium sparing diuretics)
- EKG abnormalities
- Pregnant or lactating
- Tobacco or e-cigarette use
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 40 years old?
Where in United States
- University of MichiganAnn Arbor, United StatesContact: Suzette HowtonTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Study Purpose:
Read full original descriptionShow less
The combination of caloric restriction and exercise is the most common first-line treatment for obesity-related disorders, yet we know very little about how these two very different treatments work together. A deeper understanding about mechanisms underlying the health benefits of adding exercise to a weight loss program will not only aid efforts to optimize more effective lifestyle interventions, but it can also uncover novel targets for the treatment/prevention of obesity-related diseases.
Although a reduction in body fat is the fundamental adaptation to weight loss, we know almost nothing about the effects that adding exercise has on structural and functional changes within fat tissue that may further enhance metabolic health. This is very important because many obesity-related metabolic health complications are tightly linked with abnormalities in abdominal fat tissue. We argue exercise-induced modifications in abdominal fat tissue will reveal persistent health benefits even if some weight is regained
Study Summary:
10% Weight Loss Phase - Subject participation in the study will involve a series of metabolic tests before, at midpoint, and after undergoing a 10% weight loss program (with or without exercise training depending on group randomization). During this, subjects will be randomized into one of two different experimental groups:
1. Moderate Intensity Continuous Training (MICT) exercise group 2. No exercise (control) group
Follow-up Phase: After completing the metabolic testing post-weight loss, all study-related diet and exercise supervision will end and subjects will be free to make their own choices regarding diet and exercise/physical activity behavior. Subjects will then be asked to complete follow-up testing at 2-, 4- and 6- months post-weight loss.
Total involvement in the study for each subject will likely be about 10-13 months (4-7 months during weight loss phase, 6 months during follow-up phase).
The 2 groups in the trial
- Moderate Intensity Continuous Training (MICT) exercise groupTreatment being tested
45 minutes of continuous steady-state exercise at 70% maximal heart rate throughout the 10% weight loss phase of the study
Treatment: MICT Exercise
- No exercise (Control)Treatment being tested
to remain sedentary (no planned physical exercise) throughout the duration of the 10% weight loss phase of the study
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Metabolic Adaptations to Weight Loss With and Without Exercise
- Plain-language title
- Tests how adding exercise to weight loss affects metabolism in adults with obesityGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT05806801, who can take part
- Record updated
- 14 April 2026