GLP-1 and Strength Training: How to Protect Your Muscle and Get Real Results

Most of us spend our days prioritizing other people's needs and happiness while pushing our own well-being to the back burner. It's time to change that. When you start prioritizing your own well-being, the well-being, happiness, and quality of life of everyone around you tends to improve right along with you.

That's true for sleep, mental health, hydration, and being present. And it's especially true for what we're talking about today — what to do if you're one of the millions of people now on a GLP-1.

The GLP-1 Boom — and What People Aren't Being Told

I read an insane stat recently.

Twelve percent are using one right now. Eighteen percent have used one at some point. That number doubled in less than two years — from February 2024 to the end of 2025.

I honestly didn't realize it was that prevalent. As more and more people get on the bus, I think it's important they know how to actually be successful with it — because there's a piece of this conversation that's getting almost no airtime.

The Muscle Loss Problem Nobody's Mentioning

Here's the part most people don't hear before they start.

Twenty to forty percent of your weight loss on a GLP-1 isn't fat. It's muscle. That's a massive problem for three reasons:

1. Long-term metabolism. Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue you have. Lose muscle, and your maintenance calories drop — which makes long-term weight management harder.
2. Function. Muscle is what lets you carry groceries, get up off the floor, play with your kids, and avoid getting hurt in everyday life. Losing it makes you fragile.
3. How you feel and look. People often describe feeling "deflated" or "weak" after major weight loss on a GLP-1 — even at lower body weights. That's the muscle loss talking.

The two biggest things you can do to protect your muscle are simple. Get enough protein. Lift weights. Consistently.

Let's break each one down.

How Much Protein You Actually Need

These numbers are generalized — your specific needs depend on your body, your activity, and your goals — but as a baseline:

• Women: 80 to 100 grams of protein per day
• Men: 120 to 150 grams of protein per day

Most people I talk to — especially women — are not getting anywhere close. You need the protein. Eat it. Don't complain about it.

When you start eating that much protein, you'll feel full. Good. That's your body actually having fuel to maintain itself, instead of running on fumes.

On a GLP-1, this gets harder because your appetite is suppressed. That's exactly why being intentional about protein-first meals matters more, not less.

Good Protein Sources

Lean toward whole foods most of the time:

• Chicken
• Fish and seafood
• Beef
• Pork
• Eggs
• Greek yogurt
• Cottage cheese
• Most nuts and seeds

A protein shake once a day is a reasonable tool to close the gap, especially on a GLP-1 where eating whole-food protein for every meal can feel impossible.

You Have to Lift Weights — Especially on a GLP-1

Here's another stat to sit with:

Only 23% of people are hitting their weekly exercise requirements. Soon the percentage of people on GLP-1s is going to surpass the percentage of people exercising regularly. Let that sink in.

If you're on a GLP-1, you need to lift weights at least three times per week. Honestly, you should lift three times per week no matter what — but on a GLP-1, it's not optional. It's the single biggest thing you can do to keep the muscle you currently have.

Lifting weights builds and maintains your muscle mass (the same muscle GLP-1s tend to strip away), makes you stronger, reduces chronic pain, helps you manage stress, helps you sleep better, and supports your mental health. It feels good to feel strong. The list of benefits goes on, but the point is: you have to do it.

The Most Important Exercises to Prioritize

Skip the curls and the leg extensions for now. These are the lifts that move the needle:

• Deadlifts — total-body strength, posterior chain
• Squats — legs, glutes, core
• Lunges — single-leg strength, balance
• Bench Press — chest, shoulders, triceps
• Single-Arm Rows — back, biceps, postural balance
• Planks — core stability, the foundation for every lift above
• Farmer Carries — grip, core, total-body conditioning

These are the compound lifts that work the most muscle in the least time. Three sessions a week built around movements like these will protect your muscle better than 5 sessions of small isolation work.

The Challenge: Start Where You Are

This one's relatively easy.

Step 1: Track Your Protein for 3-5 Days

For 3 to 5 days, weigh your protein raw and write down your daily total. Don't change anything else. Just track.

The goal isn't to make a change yet. The goal is to see where you actually are, so you know how big the gap is to your target. Most people are shocked at how low their actual intake is once they start measuring.

MyFitnessPal is a solid app for this. A notebook works just as well. If you need help weighing and logging, email or call the studio — happy to walk you through it.

Step 2: Build the Exercise Habit

A 5-day starter routine, designed to be easy enough that you actually do it:

Day	Workout
Day 1	20-minute walk
Day 2	Bodyweight squats — 20 reps, 3 times throughout the day
Day 3	20-minute walk
Day 4	Counter pushups — 3 sets of 10
Day 5	20-minute walk

This isn't life-changing exercise. It's not going to get you jacked or take off 100 pounds. What it does is build 20 minutes into your day where there wasn't any.

Do that for a month and you've got a habit. Then you make it longer. Then you make it more meaningful. That's how a healthy lifestyle actually starts — small, consistent, repeated.

The Bottom Line

If you're on a GLP-1 — or considering one — the medication is one piece of the equation. The protein and the lifting are the other two. Skip those and you'll lose weight but lose muscle along with it, which is the long-term version of trading one problem for another.

You don't need a perfect program. You need to start. Track your protein. Lift three times a week. Walk on the days you don't lift. Repeat.

The more willing you are to make changes that prioritize your well-being, the better you'll be at taking care of everyone around you. Your well-being is important. Treat it that way — for life.

If you're in Allison Park, the North Hills, or anywhere in the Pittsburgh area and you want help building a strength routine that actually protects your muscle on (or off) a GLP-1, that's what we do at Full Circle. Happy to help.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to train smarter?

On a GLP-1 and worried about losing muscle? Book a complimentary personal training session at Full Circle Function & Fitness in Allison Park — we'll build a program around protecting the muscle you have and adding the strength you want.

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