First - no judgment here. If you're using a GLP-1 medication to lose weight, that's your business. It doesn't make the results less real or less deserved. People have been shamed for using medication to manage their weight for years, and it's not something I'm interested in contributing to.
What I am interested in is making sure you actually keep the results. Because that's where the conversation usually stops - and it's where the real work begins.
What GLP-1 medications actually do
GLP-1s work primarily by reducing appetite and slowing digestion, which means you eat less without feeling deprived. For many people, the weight loss is significant and fast.
That sounds straightforward. But here's the bit that doesn't get talked about enough: when you lose weight quickly - especially through calorie restriction alone - a meaningful chunk of what you lose isn't fat. It's muscle.
This is called muscle wasting, and it happens to almost everyone who loses weight rapidly without doing anything to specifically preserve lean tissue. It's not a flaw in the medication. It's just biology.
Why losing muscle matters
Muscle does a lot more than make you look toned. It's metabolically active, which means the more of it you have, the more calories your body burns at rest. It protects your joints. It keeps you strong as you get older. And critically - it's what makes long-term weight maintenance actually possible.
If you lose a significant amount of muscle during your GLP-1 journey, a few things tend to happen:
- Your metabolism slows down, making it harder to maintain your new weight
- You feel weaker and more tired, even though the scale is going down
- When you eventually come off the medication, the weight comes back faster
None of that is inevitable. But avoiding it requires doing something specific alongside the medication - and that's where most people drop the ball, because nobody told them.
What you should be doing alongside GLP-1s
Resistance training. Proper, progressive, structured resistance training.
Not running. Not just walking more. Actual strength work - lifting weights or using resistance machines in a way that challenges your muscles and gives them a reason to stay.
The research on this is consistent: people who combine GLP-1 medication with resistance training lose more fat, preserve more muscle, and have significantly better long-term outcomes than people who rely on the medication alone.
Protein intake matters too. Because you're eating less overall on GLP-1s, you need to be deliberate about what you are eating - and getting enough protein is harder when your appetite is suppressed. This is something a good PT will help you navigate.
Working with a PT while on GLP-1s - what that actually looks like
A lot of people on GLP-1 medications feel self-conscious about the gym. There's still a lot of stigma - people worrying they'll be judged for "taking the easy route." There is no easy route, by the way, but that's a different conversation.
What I do is help you train in a way that works with what the medication is doing. That means:
- Building a resistance training programme tailored to where you're at right now - not where you think you should be
- Adjusting intensity and volume around your energy levels, which can fluctuate on GLP-1s, especially early on
- Tracking your progress in a way that goes beyond the scale - because muscle gain and fat loss can cancel each other out on the numbers, and you need to know what's actually happening
- Helping you build habits that will outlast the medication, so when you do come off it, you have something solid underneath you
The PT Factory is a private gym. There's no crowd, no one watching, no culture of showing off. If you've been putting off starting because you feel like you'd be out of place - you wouldn't. That's exactly the kind of person I work with every week.
What about after GLP-1s?
This is where it gets really important. A significant number of people who stop GLP-1 medications regain the weight within a year or two. The medication suppresses appetite - but it doesn't teach your body to maintain a lower weight permanently. When you stop, hunger comes back.
The people who keep their results long term are the ones who used the time on medication to build proper habits - regular training, better relationship with food, a sustainable routine. The medication gives you a window. A PT helps you use it properly.
If you've already come off GLP-1s and you're worried about where things are heading - that's exactly the right time to start. Not when things get bad. Now.
The honest version
GLP-1 medications are a tool. A genuinely useful one for a lot of people. But like any tool, how much you get out of them depends on how you use them.
The free consultation at The PT Factory is just a conversation. No exercise, no commitment. If you're on a GLP-1 and you want to make sure you're doing everything you can to make the results stick - come and have a chat. I'll tell you exactly what I think, and we'll figure out what makes sense for you.