Table 4.

Suggestions for future research areas.

Area	Recommendation
Conceptual mapping	Conceptual mapping of the area of PA and metabolomics to outline key thematic areas to guide more in depth study. Themes highlighted in this current review include
	What are the long-term/chronic effects of PA/exercise? Is there a role for sex? How does health/disease status influence the response? How do BMI and other lifestyle factors influence the response? What can we learn from metabolomics profiling of different biological samples? What can we learn through integration with other omics?
Novel human studies	Generation of novel observational and intervention studies in larger more diverse populations. Based on the findings of this review this should include
	Additional studies in women Sex stratified results where appropriate Populations that are diverse in race and socioeconomic status Additional studies of aerobic activity outside of running and cycling Integrative omic studies Discovery and validation populations
Biological mapping	Construction of a biological systems map linking metabolites and metabolomics pathways with PA/exercise exposures, metabolomics responses and acute and chronic health effects
Biomarker development	Development of studies designed to specifically assess the utility of metabolomics biomarkers in the field of PA/exercise. As a first step, studies should move toward absolute quantification of metabolite levels. Special consideration should be given to the specificity of PA/exercise biomarkers.
Expert consensus	Stakeholder and consensus seeking work to describe how better understanding in this area can be harnessed to improve both health promotion, health protection and exercise training