Ozempic is Not a Substitute for Metabolic Health — It’s a Temporary Patch
Trainers face the challenge of being outside the medical system. We’re not communicating with the medical team, even though we’re at the core of it. But we are addressing the fundamental lifestyle factors that caused the problem, and its subsequent medical intervention. This lack of integration is at the crux of the problem: we must be incorporated with the medical team for the solution to be effective.
We’re not HIPAA-certified, licensed, or part of the formal care team, so we’re excluded from medical systems, but we’re on the front line of changing the very conditions that medicine is treating. The people actively working to prevent or reverse the causes are separate from the system treating the effects.
As your client’s conditioning and metabolic health markers respond to training, it may become necessary to reduce the dose of semaglutide — something he needs to discuss with his doctor.
Strength training in a calorie-starved, mobility-limited, hormonally altered body won’t drive hypertrophy — especially if the drug is suppressing appetite, energy, and protein intake.
If you’re training 3x/week at high intensity, walking regularly, improving blood sugar response, and consuming protein post-workout, you’re addressing the root cause — not just managing symptoms. These changes improve insulin sensitivity and energy utilization, which should prompt a conversation with his doctor about whether the same medication dose is still appropriate.
HIIT remains the most effective training approach for reducing visceral adipose tissue (VAT). And VAT reduction improves insulin sensitivity — which, in many cases, is what led to the GLP-1 drug being prescribed in the first place.
As the intervention improves metabolic health, the medication will need adjusting. That’s not just good medicine — it’s good coaching.
We don’t need access to all the private health data. But we do need to be included with the medical intervention team.
References
- Effect of exercise intervention dosage on reducing visceral adipose tissue (PMID: 33558643)
- High intensity interval training improves liver and adipose tissue insulin sensitivity – Read article