If you’re on a GLP-1 agonist (Ozempic, Wegovy, Trulicity, Mounjaro, etc.), odds are you’re not just losing fat, but muscle, too.
We’ve helped a ton of clients on GLP-1 drugs drop fat while maintaining muscle.
Here are some of the strategies that have mattered most. 👇
1. Lift like a bodybuilder.
Normally, we take a functional approach to workout programming: training in the gym so you can do stuff in the real world, now and for decades to come.
During rapid weight loss, however, our priority is first and foremost just maintaining (or even gaining!) muscle.
Some of what that entails:
Using higher rep ranges.
Taking sets closer to failure.
Increasing volume (whether sets per movement, movements per body part, or total weekly volume).
Focusing on tempo, with longer eccentrics.
Incorporating a wider variety of exercises for each body part.
For less experienced lifters, using machines more frequently (so we can safely load heavily, instead of spending the first months focusing on mastering movement patterns with lighter weights).
Once clients hit their weight loss goal, we can then move to a broader focus, factoring back in performance, injury prevention, and long-term health.
But during that initial stretch of GLP-1-aided fat loss, we make hypertrophy (maximizing muscle) the primary goal.
2. Prioritize Protein
Research makes clear that protein is particularly important for maintaining muscle while losing fat.
However, most of our clients come in the door already under-eating protein, even before factoring in increased needs during weight loss.
And because GLP-1 drugs make people less hungry, we often see that low protein intake going further down just when it most needs to go up.
Countering that is totally possible; it just takes concerted effort.
In particular, we recommend:
Making sure protein is a priority at every meal.
Focusing on leaner proteins, which pack more grams of protein per ounce.
Finding less satiating forms of protein (like protein shakes) that clients can wedge in between meals.
Keeping easy, high protein snacks on standby.
That said, it’s also important to make sure you’re taking in enough carbs, fats, and micronutrients to keep fueling healthfully overall.
3. Get more sleep.
A ton of research has highlighted the importance of sleep quality and quantity for muscle gain and maintenance.
If your sleep isn’t a priority, make it one.
If your sleep isn’t as good as you’d like — if you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or wake up still tired despite enough hours in bed — that’s a solvable problem.
Sleep is too complex to cover well in just one post. Suffice it to say, it’s more under your control than you might think. If your sleep isn’t great, it’s worth digging in to find the specific changes that work for you.
4. Go slow.
We all want results, fast.
And for many clients who’ve previously struggled to lose weight, finally seeing change with the help of GLP-1 drugs is an even bigger push to lose weight as quickly as possible.
However, there’s an inverse relationship between speed and quality of weight loss. The faster you drop pounds, the higher the percentage is likely to be from muscle.
For a quick and dirty rule of thumb, limit weight loss to ~0.5% of body weight per week.
Even if that adds a few months to your weight loss trajectory, it will pay dividends in retained muscle mass for decades ahead.
5. Measure what matters.
Most of us are terrible at objective self-assessment, and are even worse when that’s combined with (very common) body dysmorphia.
Pair that with how hard it is to notice gradual change, and it’s basically a losing cause. You’re just not going to be able to look in the mirror and accurately judge your progress.
Scales can tell you how much weight you’ve lost, but not what percentage of that loss is fat versus muscle. You’ll need to use DEXA scans, BIA, calipers, or similar tools to get a more accurate picture. And, ideally, you’ll need to use them regularly.
If you’re on track at each step along the way, odds are obviously much better you’ll end up where you want.
And if things aren’t going exactly to plan, more accurate data will help you adjust as needed, to get back on the path before you veer too far off.
6. Leverage outside experience.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. Experienced coaches who have worked with people in your situation can help you get the results you want.
Learning lessons second-hand from others’ experiences definitely beats having to muddle through the same ones blindly yourself.
Especially during a long, slow, gradual process of change, there’s huge value in having outside advisors who can provide perspective, support your progress, and celebrate victories along the way.
TLDR:
GLP-1 drugs are powerful new tools.
If you decide they’re right for you, just make sure you pair them with smart lifestyle choices around exercise, nutrition, and sleep.
That’s likely to make a difference to your fitness and health, both in the immediate future, and for decades still to come.
p.s. Take a look at the header image for historical data from one of our clients, Mike, who’s dropped a ton of weight while retaining muscle. We know you can do it, because we’ve seen it happen, time and again.
