Whether to take a GLP-1 is between you and your prescriber. What you lose while you are on it is the part we help with. Strength training and protein decide how much of the weight that comes off is fat, and how much is muscle you wanted to keep.
We have coached more than a dozen people on GLP-1 medications at CrossFit Spring Hill. Here is what we tell them and what we do.
What happens to muscle on a GLP-1
The medication creates the calorie deficit. When you eat less, your body takes weight from wherever it can, and muscle is on the list. Losing muscle and bone alongside fat is the known risk.
Muscle keeps you strong, protects your joints, and makes stairs, groceries and kids easier to handle as you age. It is also slow to win back. Keeping it while the weight comes off is easier than rebuilding it later.
What protects it
Three things, and none of them are complicated.
Lift, consistently. Strength training tells your body the muscle is still needed. Three days a week is the target we set for most members.
Eat protein first. It is what your body holds onto muscle with, and it is the habit a low appetite squeezes out first.
Measure fat and muscle, not only weight. The scale cannot tell you which one you lost. An InBody scan can.
The full mechanism is in our post on a simple approach to fat loss. Same physiology, different starting point.
How we coach someone on a GLP-1
Mostly the same way we coach anyone. We start you where you are. The difference is pace. Most people on a GLP-1 are eating a lot less than their body is used to, so we do not push hard too soon. The first goal is three days a week, leaving each session able to come back for the next one.
Your first week is three one-on-one sessions with your coaches. Session one is an InBody scan so you have a real baseline, then the squat, most likely with an empty barbell. Session two builds your nutrition plan, and for a GLP-1 member that plan starts with protein.
Protein is the hard part when you are not hungry. What works for our members is protein that is easy to get down:
- A whey protein shake
- Ready-to-drink shakes like Fairlife
- Low-fat Greek yogurt
We rescan every 90 days, so you see what is changing in fat and in muscle, not only in pounds.
Nutrition guidance comes with every membership. For more structure, Coach Jonathan runs a small-group nutrition program and coaches one-on-one, and Coach Kim coaches one-on-one with a focus on women through menopause. Details are on our nutrition coaching page.
What it looks like on the scan
Three of our members on a GLP-1, anonymous, straight from their InBody scans.
Member one, 17 weeks. The scale dropped 16 pounds. Body fat dropped 23 pounds, from 35.5% to 28.1%. Muscle went up 4.4 pounds. He lost more fat than the scale showed, because he was building muscle at the same time.
Member two, 90 days. She joined 20 pounds into her GLP-1. In her first 90 days here the scale dropped 7.8 pounds, and 6.7 of that was fat. Body fat went from 30.9% to 27.9%, and her muscle held, down less than a pound. She told us she feels stronger and has more energy than when she started.
Member three, 15 weeks. The scale dropped 1.7 pounds. Body fat dropped 3.6 pounds, from 22.6% to 20.1%. Muscle went up 1.6 pounds. On the scale alone, that looks like fifteen weeks of almost nothing. On the scan, it is fat coming off and muscle going on.
Three different bodies and three different paces. What they share is the lifting, the protein, and a scan that shows what the scale cannot.
When the dose changes
Doses change, and some people come off. The part that stays yours either way is the muscle you kept, the strength you built, and the habit of training three days a week. That is what we coach.
Where our job stops
Your prescriber owns the medication and always will. Our job is the food and the training around it, so what you are building holds.
Questions we hear from members on a GLP-1
I’m on a GLP-1. Should I still be lifting? Yes, and it is the part most people skip. Protein and strength training are how you hold onto muscle while the weight comes off.
I have no appetite. How do I get enough protein? Make it easy to get down. A whey shake, a ready-to-drink protein shake or a cup of low-fat Greek yogurt all count, and none of them take much appetite. Eat the protein first at each meal.
Is it safe to train when I’m eating this little? Check with your prescriber, then start slower than you think you need to. We scale every workout to where you are that day, and on a low-intake day that can mean lighter and shorter. Tell your coaches how you feel before class starts.
Do I need to reach a goal weight before I start? No. The earlier you start lifting, the more muscle you keep on the way down.
Will anyone at the gym care that I’m on one? No. Everyone here wants everyone else to get better, and if you are here, you are doing that. The people in your class will be glad you came. That matters more than it sounds. The biggest thing for someone on a GLP-1 is being around people building the same habits, with coaches who teach you to train properly and help you keep showing up.
If you are on a GLP-1 and want to make sure you are doing this right, I am looking to work with a few more people in Spring Hill and Thompson’s Station.
Book a free No Sweat Intro. Twenty minutes, sitting down, no workout. We will figure out whether we are the right fit for each other.
Joe Pangallo is the owner and head coach at CrossFit Spring Hill in Spring Hill, TN.