How to Maintain Muscle While Taking Mounjaro or Wegovy
New Wegovy Pill Is Now Available
The Wegovy pill has been approved in the UK and is available to buy at The Independent Pharmacy, subject to eligibility.
The number on the scales only tells part of the story. When you lose weight, you can lose both body fat and lean body mass, which includes your muscles, bones, organs and body water. Healthy weight loss is all about reducing body fat while preserving as much lean muscle as possible to support your strength, metabolism and long-term health.
In this guide, you’ll find out:
Why maintaining muscle is important
Why people lose muscle on GLP-1 treatments
How to maintain muscle while taking treatments like Wegovy and Mounjaro
Why Is Muscle Important?
Muscle plays an important role in keeping your body healthy. It supports everyday movement, metabolism and healthy ageing. Preserving muscle while losing body fat can help you stay stronger, support your metabolism and maintain your health during weight loss and beyond.
Did you know, after the age of 30, adults can lose around 3–8% of their muscle mass each decade if they don't stay active, with the rate of muscle loss increasing later in life.¹ Regular resistance exercise and eating enough protein can help slow this decline.
Maintaining muscle can also help:
Support strength and everyday movement – When you walk, climb stairs, carry shopping or get up from a chair, your muscles are doing the heavy lifting. As they contract, they pull on tendons attached to your bones, creating movement at the joints. Strong muscles also help keep those joints steady, supporting your balance and coordination.
Keep your metabolism working efficiently – Muscle uses energy even when you’re resting. Keeping as much muscle as possible can help your body continue burning calories as you lose weight.
Support healthy blood sugar control – Muscles are one of the body's largest storage sites for glucose. After eating, they take glucose out of the bloodstream and store it as glycogen or use it for energy during movement. Having more healthy muscle tissue helps your body respond to insulin more effectively.
Reduce the risk of injury – Strong muscles help absorb the forces placed on your body during everyday activities and exercise. They also support and stabilise your joints, improving balance, coordination and control, which may reduce the risk of falls and some injuries.
Support healthy ageing – Muscles act like a shield around your joints, absorbing shocks and preventing injury. Preserving muscle helps maintain mobility, independence and physical function as you get older.
Why Can Muscle Loss Happen on GLP-1 Treatments?
GLP-1 treatments such as Mounjaro injections and the Wegovy pill reduce appetite, which can make it easier to eat less. But when portions become smaller or meals are skipped, your intake of protein and energy can fall too. Protein provides the amino acids that your body uses to repair and maintain muscle, and because the body does not keep a large reserve of them, getting enough across the day becomes especially important during weight loss.
Muscle loss is more likely if you:
- Eat less overall because your appetite has reduced
- Don't eat enough protein
- Do little or no resistance exercise
- Lose weight quickly
Some loss of lean muscle – the muscle that moves your skeleton – is a normal part of weight loss and is not usually a cause for concern. However, ideally you want to keep this to a minimum so that you’re improving your body composition by reducing body fat while preserving as much muscle as possible.
Eating enough protein, staying active and including regular resistance exercise can all help support muscle maintenance during your weight loss journey.
5 Ways To Maintain Muscle While Taking GLP-1 Treatments
Including protein in your diet throughout the day will help provide you with a steady supply of amino acids. So, how much protein do you need? Most people taking a GLP-1 treatment should aim for around 1.2–1.6g of protein per kilogram of body weight each day or, if you’re looking to build muscle, 1.8–2.7g per kilogram of body weight. Not everyone needs the upper end of this range, and your own individual requirements will vary depending on your age, activity level and health.
1. Prioritise protein
Protein provides the building blocks your body needs to maintain muscle while you're losing weight. Because GLP-1 treatments reduce appetite, it's important to make every meal count to support that all-important muscle maintenance.
Good sources of protein include:
- Chicken
- Fish
- Eggs
- Greek yoghurt
- Beans
- Tofu
- Protein supplements if appropriate
If you need more help when it comes to including protein into your diet, you can get some meal time inspiration with our 7-day GLP-1 Meat Meal Plan and GLP-1 Vegan Meal Plan.
2. Include resistance training
Resistance training helps you hold on to more muscle while you lose weight. Challenging your muscles regularly stimulates the repair processes that help preserve muscle as your body loses fat.
Start where you feel comfortable: You don't need to lift heavy weights to see benefits. Bodyweight exercises, resistance bands, light dumbbells and gym machines can all help.
Aim for consistency: Try to include resistance exercise 2–3 times each week, as recommended by the NHS, focusing on the major muscle groups.
Progress gradually: As you become stronger, slowly increase the resistance, repetitions or difficulty of your exercises to continue challenging your muscles.
3. Keep moving
Resistance training should be a priority for maintaining muscle, but everyday movement matters too. Walking, cycling and other daily activities support heart health, cardiovascular fitness and healthy blood sugar control. While these activities don't replace resistance exercise for maintaining muscle, they play an important role in your everyday life.
They also contribute to the amount of energy you use each day. As you lose weight and eat less, it's common to become less active without noticing. Keeping up your everyday movement can help prevent this, supporting continued weight loss and helping you feel fitter, stronger and more capable.
Take a look at our 10 Fat Loss Exercises For Women That Work guide for more ideas.
4. Prioritise recovery
Exercise is only one part of maintaining muscle. Giving your body time for your muscles to recover and repair is just as important as your workouts.
Aim for enough sleep
Try to get 7–8 hours of sleep each night. Poor sleep can affect energy levels, exercise performance and make it harder to maintain the healthy habits you’re building.
Make sure you stay hydrated
Hydration gives your muscles a helping hand during exercise and recovery. Aim for 6 to 8 glasses of fluid a day, or around 1.5 to 2 litres. It's also worth checking you're getting enough vitamin D and calcium to help support healthy muscles and bones.
Allow time to recover
Rest days are an important part of any exercise routine. Giving your muscles time to recover between resistance training sessions helps them repair and adapt, allowing you to gradually build strength over time.
5. Look beyond the scales
Remember your weight loss journey isn’t only about losing weight. By preserving muscle while reducing body fat, you're supporting your strength, metabolism and long-term health.
Signs you're maintaining muscle and improving your fitness may include:
- Feeling stronger
- Having more energy
- Finding everyday activities easier
- Lifting heavier weights or completing more repetitions
- Clothes fitting differently
If you’re interested in finding out more about Wegovy injections, Mounjaro or oral Wegovy, you can find out more by reading our other guides. If you’d like personalised support, our clinical team is here to help.
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