Effects of Exercise on Cardiometabolic Risk in Post-Bariatric Patients: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and...

Obesity is a chronic non-communicable disease; that significantly impacts cardiovascular health via related conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. Bariatric surgery provides effective weight loss, however exercise's cardiometabolic benefits post-surgery remain underexplored. To gain deeper insight, we conducted an overview of systematic reviews (SRs) to assess the impact of exercise on cardiovascular risk in post-bariatric surgery patients. The searches were accomplished by EMBASE, MEDLINE/PubMed (via National Library of Medicine), Scopus, and Web of Science databases. We included SRs of exercise and cardiovascular risk in post-bariatric surgery patients published up until March 9th 2026. PRISMA was enforced for reporting quality, AMSTAR 2 was required for methodological quality and GRADE was executed for quality of evidence analysis. Following the exclusion of 133 publications, four SRs were included, revealing significant exercise-induced improvements in VO₂max-VO₂peak/kg (absolute effect: 0.197 [0.287; 1.06]), HDL-cholesterol (absolute effect: 0.107 [0.009; 0.43]), and triglycerides (absolute effect: -17.56 [-34.14; -0.96]). None of the SRs fully obeyed the PRISMA guidelines, while AMSTAR 2 and GRADE assessments indicated low to very low quality. The SRs designated that exercise provides cardiovascular risk benefits for post-bariatric surgery patients. Yet, we recommend enhancing the evidence base, in addition to the methodological and reporting standards, in forthcoming SRs.