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- Millions of people have lost weight on GLP-1s. But the drugs can also cause significant loss of muscle mass.
- The fitness industry is responding with tailored workouts that cater to these clients.
- The workouts prioritize strength training over cardio and often incorporate healthy lifestyle coaching.
It’s 10 a.m. on a Friday at SURFCORE Fitness, a boutique gym in Mid-City, and a 52-year-old woman is following an exercise circuit as her trainer watches on. The fashion consultant, who is squeezing in a session before work, lifts relatively light weights while doing simple movements to build strength: goblet squats with a 6-pound kettlebell, then bicep curls with a 10-pound weight.
You’d never guess it, but this is the latest exercise craze in action: Call it the Ozempic workout.
GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and Mounjaro have helped millions of people combat Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease as well as shed weight. The class of drugs — GLP-1 receptor agonists — has been around for two decades as a diabetes medication. Their popularity as a tool for weight loss skyrocketed after the FDA approved Wegovy for weight management in 2021.
But these drugs have also created new challenges. The weight loss they spur often comes with a reduction in lean body mass that includes muscle, making people physically weaker. Because GLP-1 drugs send signals to the brain telling people to feel full on fewer calories, those taking them are often operating in a caloric deficit. That reduced appetite, if not overseen properly by a doctor, could cause nutritional deficiencies and leave people with less energy for workouts, says Dr. Martha Gulati, director of preventive cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. It’s then harder to exercise at the intensity needed to gain back the muscle they’ve been losing.
“Depending on the drug, people can lose between 25%-50% of their lean body mass,” Gulati says.
As demand for popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound skyrockets, patients are taking dosage amounts into their own hands.
Which is where the GLP-1 workout comes in. The routine’s aim is to help patients build and preserve muscle mass by prioritizing strength training over cardio. It often incorporates education around nutrition and postworkout recovery techniques, helping participants develop new, healthy lifestyle habits to prevent weight gain once they go off the GLP-1 drugs. Over the last year, the hashtags #ozempicworkout and #glp1training have populated TikTok and Instagram, and the GLP-1 workout has been promoted at gyms, on blogs and on the YouTube accounts of personal trainers .
“If fitness professionals don’t tailor their approach to individuals on these medications, then there are risks for [them] losing functional strength, bone density, metabolic health.”
— Josh Leve, CEO of the Fitness Business Association
Luxury fitness chain Equinox introduced a “GLP-1 protocol” in January 2024 and has since rolled it out at 80 clubs internationally. Planet Fitness posts GLP-1 workout guidelines on its blog. Independent gyms in Los Angeles, such as SURFCORE Fitness, are promoting GLP-1 workouts on Instagram, “to stay ahead of the curve,” says owner Carlos Sosa. Personal trainers are getting in on the trend as well. Exercise influencer and trainer Chris Ryan debuted a GLP-1 workout series on his fitness app this month that includes live and on-demand routines.
“If fitness professionals don’t tailor their approach to individuals on these medications, then there are risks for [them] losing functional strength, bone density, metabolic health,” says Josh Leve, CEO of the Minneapolis-based Fitness Business Assn. “So we’re seeing a pretty rapid response from the industry to offset these dangers.”
The beginner’s strength-training regime isn’t new. Rather, it’s been repackaged for a new fitness audience.
“It’s just marketing,” says Shawn M. Arent, professor and chair of the department of exercise science at the University of South Carolina. “We might have to take into account a lack of energy [on the part of GLP-1 exercisers]. But in terms of our general guidelines for resistance training, there really is nothing special about a GLP-1 workout. At the end of the day, it’s just resistance training. But that’s not sexy.”
Regardless, the routine appears to be here to stay. About 6% of adults in the U.S. say they are taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, according to a 2024 poll conducted by the San Francisco-based health policy nonprofit KFF. That’s more than 15 million people. With these branded workouts, fitness facilities and trainers are courting a new class of consumers.
As powerful anti-obesity drugs become more widely available, companies are repositioning themselves with new products and services.
The trend has had a ripple effect on organizations that administer certification programs for fitness trainers. The National Academy of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise are now offering GLP-1 education. The National Exercise & Sports Trainers Assn. debuted a “GLP-1 Exercise Specialist Certificate” in January that it touts as a “passport to success” for trainers.
Regardless of whether these GLP-1 workouts are innovative, promoting these exercises helps to build community among those who are using the drugs, says Eric Durak, a Santa Barbara-based exercise physiologist who authored NESTA’s GLP-1 certificate program.
“It’s about changing the mind-set and lifestyle of overweight people, many of whom have never exercised before,” Durak says. “Some may be people who didn’t feel accepted by society because they weighed more than 300 pounds. We want to get them in the door, then create a space for them that they feel is more a community than a training center. The trainer’s job goes above sets and reps with this population. It’s also about developing relationships.”
“It’s about changing the mind-set and lifestyle of overweight people, many of whom have never exercised before.”
— Eric Durak, exercise physiologist
Gyms and trainers are approaching the GLP-1 workout with different priorities in mind. Some focus on educating clients about nutrition, advising they eat more protein and monitor macronutrients. Others emphasize postworkout recovery strategies, like guided stretching, sleep optimization and tracking tools to monitor muscle-mass retention.
Equinox’s GLP-1 protocol is considered a framework for people taking the drugs, one that addresses workout intensity, frequency and volume (how many reps) as well as robust habit coaching, says the club’s senior personal training manager, Stan Ward.
“When they’re getting these workouts in, we’re also talking about their lifestyle,” Ward says. “Whole food sources, portion sizes. We help them navigate food and understand when they feel full. And how to do that in a long-term, sustainable fashion.”
Sitting for long periods can cause pain and injuries. Try these stretches to alleviate problem areas like your neck, lower back, wrists and shoulders.
At SURFCORE Fitness, Sosa is in touch directly with clients’ doctors, he says.
“Doctors are sending people here: ‘I’m not gonna give you the [GLP-1] drug unless you workout,’ they tell them. So I talk with their doctor about what their needs are, the specific drugs they’re on and the dosage, any side effects, plus any other health concerns,” Sosa says. “I reassure them my workouts will address their needs.”
One of Sosa’s clients, the 52-year-old fashion consultant, went on Mounjaro last March and has since lost 40 pounds — but she saw muscle on her triceps and legs dwindle. The GLP-1 workout has helped her body composition, Sosa says, and his being in touch with her doctor has given her confidence.
“She feels comfortable to be working out with me, specifically, because I know what her needs are, medically,” he says.
The GLP-1 training regime at LA Athletic Club, downtown, is particularly focused on the side effects of the medications — and then tailoring workouts to mitigate them. It partnered with the San Diego County-based CHEK Institute, to hold workshops for trainers. They’re now careful not to overexert clients or to quickly switch up exercises from sitting to standing positions because high doses of GLP-1 drugs can cause dizziness. Longer and more intense workouts may cause increased gastrointestinal issues, like nausea and stomach discomfort, so trainers focus on consistent, moderately intense workouts.
“The last thing we want to do is push them too hard,” says LAAC Director Ed Gemdjian. “We want to work them to their comfort level, and then continue that consistency.”
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“I no longer feel, ‘Oh, my gosh, is everyone looking at my body?’ I feel more confident [at the gym] now.”
— Jessica Bunge, who lost 30 pounds on Ozempic
Mike Kimani, an independent trainer who works out of LM Fitness Center in Atwater, says his GLP-1 workouts are particularly data-driven.
“The whole workout is choreographed and timed to a T, customized to where they’re losing muscle,” Kimani says. He requires clients on GLP-1 drugs to get body scans every two to four weeks.
“It’s so we’re not just guessing. We’re feeling good, but what does that mean, data-wise? We’re looking to track muscle growth,” he says.
Kimani’s client, Jessica Bunge, 37, went on Ozempic in June for diabetes. She’d never been a serious exerciser — the gym was “an intimidating place,” she says. But she lost more than 30 pounds on the drug, which has been a game-changer.
“I no longer feel, ‘Oh, my gosh, is everyone looking at my body?’ I feel more confident here now,” she says. “I train twice a week — and it’s helped everything, massively. I definitely feel stronger, even just running up the stairs.”
Perspectives on the GLP-1 workout may vary, but the trainers interviewed for this story stressed that one thing is key: strength training to counter muscle loss from the drugs.
“Ultimately, we’re looking for people to create new healthy habits and improve their lives,” says FBA’s Leve. “It’s gotta start somewhere.”
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