Which Types of Exercise Actually Help PCOS Hormones?
A newly published 2025 peer-reviewed study involving over 800 women with PCOS is attempting to answer a question many of us have wondered:
Does the type of exercise matter when it comes to insulin resistance and high androgens?
Rather than lumping all movement together, researchers compared different exercise styles - including yoga, steady cardio, HIIT, strength training and mixed programs — and ranked them based on how well they improved insulin resistance and testosterone levels (high androgens), which drive PCOS symptoms.
What they found strongly supports a more individualised, root-cause approach to movement.
PCOS is driven by both metabolic and hormonal pathways
This study reinforces that insulin resistance and high androgens don’t exist in isolation - they fuel each other. Improving insulin sensitivity can directly help lower androgen levels, which is why lifestyle approaches are considered first-line care in PCOS.
Not all exercise works the same way for PCOS
The researchers found meaningful differences between exercise types. Some forms were better for insulin resistance, others for lowering testosterone — and some worked for both.
This challenges the idea that “any exercise is good exercise” when it comes to PCOS.
Yoga ranked highest for both insulin resistance and testosterone
Across all exercise types studied, yoga consistently ranked as the most effective for improving insulin sensitivity and lowering testosterone.
This suggests that movement supporting:
- stress regulation
- gentle strength
- breath and nervous system balance
may be especially powerful for PCOS - particularly where stress or inflammation are part of the picture.
HIIT and steady cardio help in different ways
- High-intensity interval training (HIIT) was particularly effective for improving insulin resistance
- Moderate-intensity, steady cardio (like brisk walking or cycling) was especially helpful for lowering testosterone
This highlights that different bodies and different PCOS types - respond better to different styles of movement.
Strength training alone was less effective
Resistance training on its own showed smaller and less consistent improvements in insulin resistance and testosterone.
That doesn’t mean strength training isn’t valuable - but for many people with PCOS, it may work best when combined with other forms of movement, rather than used alone.
What this means for a root-cause approach to PCOS
This research supports a shift away from “one-size-fits-all” exercise advice.
Instead of asking:
“What burns the most calories?”
A more helpful question is:“What type of movement helps my body regulate insulin, hormones, and stress?”
Reading this research genuinely made me smile, because it reinforces what we’ve been saying at Nourished from the very beginning. There is no one perfect type of exercise for PCOS, and there never has been. What matters most is how movement interacts with your individual PCOS root cause - whether that’s insulin resistance, inflammation, or adrenal and stress-driven PCOS - and whether that movement is actually supportive for your body.
For years, the dominant message has been calories in, calories out, and pushing harder when results don’t come. But for so many women with PCOS, that approach has only led to exhaustion, hormone disruption, and frustration - often with little to no improvement in symptoms. This new research echoes what I outline in The PCOS Repair Protocol: when exercise increases stress hormones, worsens recovery, or leaves you depleted, it can actively work against hormonal balance, especially for those with insulin resistance or adrenal root causes.
What I love about this study is that it validates an individualised approach to movement. Some bodies respond beautifully to short HIIT-style sessions. Others see greater hormonal improvements from steady, moderate movement or yoga that supports nervous system regulation. Neither is “better” - they’re simply different tools, suited to different root causes and different seasons of life. Sustainable movement isn’t about punishment or willpower; it’s about choosing forms of exercise that help your body feel safe, supported, and able to recover.
My hope is that this research helps bring clarity, confidence, and simplicity to how you move your body, and gives you permission to let go of outdated rules as you adapt your exercise approach heading into 2026.