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Over the past year, weight loss (GLP-1) medications have become more popular and have completely changed how people approach weight loss. These drugs help control appetite and blood sugar levels, leading to dramatic weight loss reults. However, while these medications make losing weight easier, they don’t distinguish between fat and muscle.
This means unless you take active steps to protect your lean muscle mass, you could be losing strength and slowing down your metabolism without realising it.
The Science
When you lose weight, especially rapidly, your body breaks down both fat and muscle tissue for energy. GLP-1 medications supress appetite, so many people end up eating significantly less protein and total calories. Without enough resistance training or dietry protein, your body starts to use muscle as fuel.
Research has shown that up to 30-40% of the total weight lost on GLP-1 can come from muscle tissue. That may sound sound small, but it is huge in terms of health and performance. Muscle is your body’s most metabolically active tissue, it:
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- controls blood sugar
- supports joint health
- keeps your metabolism running efficiently.
Losing too much leaves you feeling weaker, burning fewer calories at rest and regaining fat more easily once you stop the medication.
So, where does strength training come in?
Strength training should become a non-negotiable part of any GLP-1 user’s plan. Lifting weights or doing resistance-based exercise sends a signal to your body to ‘keep the muscle’. By challenging your muscles with resistance, whether that’s free weights, machines or even body weight exercises, you help preserve (and build) lean muscle tissue, even during calorie restriction.
Strength training doesn’t just protect your muscle; it helps your metabolism stay active, supports better posture and energy levels, and keeps your body strong as the number on the scale drops.
When paired with enough protein, you can shift your body composition so most of the weight you lose is fat, not muscle. Read more about using nutrition to support GLP-1 here:
Nutrition to Support GLP-1: A Balanced Diet Approach
Get started
If you’re using GLP-1 medication, here are some tips to start protecting your muscle and metabolism:
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- Strength train 2-3 times per week, focusing on compound movements such as squats, deadlifts and presses
- Eat enough protein
- Don’t skip recovery
- Track how you feel – not just the scale, notice improvements in strength, energy and body shape.
Even small, consistent steps make a big difference. You don’t need to lift heavy or train every day- you just need to start.
