Even after exercising, the body’s worst-case reaction to a fat overload stays the same — exercise helps you handle fat better, but doesn’t change the core way fat messes up your insulin system.

Exercise helps women with PCOS handle fat better and improves their insulin sensitivity, but even after training, their muscles still react more strongly to fat overload than healthy women who don’t exercise.

Women with PCOS who did 3 moderate workouts a week for 2 months became better at handling fat in their blood without losing weight — their muscles could use sugar more efficiently even when fat levels were high.

Women with PCOS are more sensitive to the negative effects of fat in the blood — their muscles struggle much more to use sugar when fat levels rise, compared to women without PCOS.

Women with PCOS who exercised regularly became fitter and had better blood sugar control, but didn’t lose weight or change their fat levels in the blood.

Women with PCOS who have higher levels of male-type hormones tend to get stronger faster when they do weight training for 4 months—even if their body fat or muscle size doesn’t change much.