Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors for a variety of metabolic diseases, including central obesity, dyslipidemia, glucose metabolism disorders, hypertension, and other clinical syndromes clustered in the same individual. The core component for metabolic syndrome is adipose tissue, besides its role as an energy storage organ, adipose tissue can be viewed as a dynamic and complex endocrine organ, which produces and secretes several adipokines. Exercise is beneficial to human metabolism, although the mechanisms underlying exercise in metabolic syndrome are not fully understood, changes in energy expenditure and adipokines might be involved. Therefore, this article selects some classic adipokines in metabolic syndrome to review the possible mechanisms of exercise modulating adipokines, so as to provide new ideas for the treatment of insulin resistance and obesity.