Strength Training While On GLP-1’s (Part II): It Matters More Than the Scale — Especially After 40
People often talk more about how much they weigh on the scale than how many pushups they can do, but strength tells the real story. You can absolutely lose weight, but be lighter and weaker.
And that’s not the goal.
If longevity, independence, and health-span matter to you, strength has to become a real priority.
1) Strength Predicts Health Better Than BMI
BMI is a height-to-weight ratio. That’s it. It’s really only as prevalent as it is because it’s easy to measure; any untrained person can read someone’s height and weight and find where they fit in the BMI chart. The flaws in BMI analysis are another topic for another day, but basically, BMI doesn’t tell you:
How resilient your body is
How strong you are
How much overall capacity you have
Muscular strength, however, consistently shows an inverse relationship with all-cause mortality — regardless of BMI. Even something like grip strength, which you can do with virtually anyone, is strongly associated with:
Cardiovascular mortality
All-cause mortality
Functional decline
Doesn’t that sound like a more practical measure? Strength reflects how robust you are. Weight alone does not.
2) Weight Loss Without Resistance Training Increases Frailty Risk
I could say it increases injury risk, which is also true, but it doesn’t really paint the same the picture.
Muscle loss starts in your 30s and accelerates after 50. It’s part of the natural aging process, and no matter how much we want it to be true, you can’t completely stop it. But if you completely give up on fighting it, it will just accelerate. (More on this topic coming soon….)
Resistance training is the most effective tool we have for preserving and rebuilding muscle in aging adults.
As we covered in Part I, not all the weight you lose on a GLP-1 alone is fat mass, a significant portion of it can be lean muscle loss. If you lose 40 pounds and 15 of those pounds are muscle, that’s not just a cosmetic issue.
That can potentially affect:
Balance
Bone density
Joint stability
Fall risk
Recovery
Strength is what keeps you independent.
3) Longevity Is About Capacity
“Health-span” isn’t about being as light as possible, it’s about how functionally strong and fit you are. It’s about what you can do.
Can you:
Get up off the floor without help?
Carry heavy groceries or things without handles?
Travel without worrying about your body (lots of walking, stairs, altitude, luggage, etc.)?
Recover quickly from setbacks?
Strength builds functional capacity.
Capacity is what keeps your.
Bottom Line
GLP-1 medications are useful tools.
But they don’t build muscle, and they don’t protect muscle.
They don’t increase strength and they don’t improve resilience.
That’s still your job.
And it’s my job to help you do it correctly and safely.
If you’re serious about building strength that supports long-term health, schedule a consultation below and let’s get to work.