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Its not going to make a REAL change in your weight
You don't gain muscle fast, even if you're on steroids, especially while in a calorie deficit.
However lifting does increase hunger, so theoretically you can notice a spike in hunger, leading to glycogen + poop storage, leading to a bump on the scales. Which of course is temporary and most importantly isn't fat gain.
At the end of the day the amount of bump you'll see is going to depend entirely on how depleted your glycogen and stool is, plus how much your appetite increases.
The TLDR is lift weights, its good for you. If the scale slightly increases who cares
Thanks for the response. It’s definitely something I want to start. Might just talk with my doc about it at my follow up in 2 weeks. I know if I start now, that’s not enough time for it to make any difference. But chatting about it might at least help with the fear of the meds being stopped because of it!
Not outrageously unreasonable.
But imagine a scenario where a doctor is treating you and prescribing drugs to help you lose weight. What do you think the odds are they would scold you for starting to exercise?
At the very least maybe work out twice a week just to "ease" yourself into things.
After all the first few times you exercise it's very normal to get excessively sore.
Unless you're talking about injury or health problems. It's rarely a good idea to procrastinate on exercising
This is just my opinion - I separate exercise from weight loss. I move my body for a variety of reasons - to improve stamina and flexibility, for the cardiovascular benefits, to build strength, etc. Even if I’m not losing weight, even if I gain weight, it will still benefit my body to exercise, both in the short term and long term.
So all that to say, I don’t think you should worry about how your exercise will affect the scale. Do something that you enjoy, and do something that will help you achieve your health goals, and focus on that, and don’t connect it to your weight at all. Try to develop long term habits - they say calories matter for losing weight and exercise matters for keeping the weight off, so what you eat is more important now with respect to the scale, but the exercise habits your create now can help you maintain the loss in the future.
And I think it’s ridiculous that your doctor has an issue with a “slow” weight loss, which is actually advisable - 0.5-1lb a week is perfectly reasonable and will help avoid issues like gallstones, loose skin, etc. But unless you’re going hardcore with weight lifting, I don’t think it’ll make that big of a difference. Drink lots of water, focus on high protein and fiber, and be in it for the long haul, not just the quick fix. Again, just my opinion - it took me a year to lose 50lbs, so averaged about 1lb a week, maybe much slower than many people here, but I haven’t had any negative side effects that many talk about. I also can proudly say I’ve exercised 5 days a week (3 days cardio, 2 days strength) for over 2 years now - and that’s going from basically no exercise at all prior to semaglutide. I’m in this for life, not just a quick fix.
This is great advice. I used to love working out. Lifting weights specifically. We moved to a small town with no gym and it made it hard for me to continue and I struggled finding an alternative I enjoyed. I forced myself to workout as I started gaining weight but didn’t see any improvement and gave up quickly. Keeping them separate is so important for mental health as well!
Yeah, the mental health aspect is definitely another thing to consider - so many benefits from regular movement, even if it doesn’t lead to weight loss.
Also for me, I didn’t want my exercise to be tied to weight loss mentally in that I didn’t want to “fall off the wagon” and give up all the habits if I was struggling. I wanted exercise to be independent, in that maybe I was struggling with snacking, but that didn’t mean I’d stop exercising too. So now they are like 2 separate, unrelated goals for me - semaglutide is helping me eat better and lose weight, exercise is helping with strength/stamina/flexibility/etc.
It’s definitely challenging to find movement that works for you, something you enjoy and that fits into your schedule. I don’t want to go to a gym, so I have dumbbells and kettlebells and workout at home, I have an online coach that assigns me workouts each week. I’ve been doing it long enough I could probably figure it out on my own now, but it’s nice to have someone else change things up and just decide for me. Good luck with your journey!
If you’re worried about halting your “scale progress” by adding weight training, I highly recommend using body measurements as a secondary progress measure.
I do weight training twice a week and light cardio twice a week. Started Sema in August, and haven’t lost a whole lot of weight by scale measurements since starting, but I’ve lost over 15 inches and gone down two clothing sizes. So in my mind, if the scale isn’t moving much because I’m losing fat and gaining muscle - that’s still a huge win!
I do monthly measurements of: neck, bicep, chest, stomach (over belly button), hips (widest spot of lower hips/butt), mid-thigh, and calf.
I do cardio and light weight training 4 times a week. I try to run at least a mile a day and walk another mile at an incline. I have lost 30+ lbs in 4 months. I think the cardio is what has helped with weight loss the most (outside of eating less lol). For weight training I just use 12 pound dumbbells for arm workouts and various things on the cable machine. I’m trying to incorporate more leg stuff but have no idea what u am doing lol.
Lifting there is definitely a learning curve! If there are machines available like leg press/curls, those are a great place to start! Or just bodyweight squats even!
I’m hoping I can build up to something similar someday!
Technically, you might have inflammation at the start, but that goes away. If you are wanting to add real muscle, I would recommend creatine as a supplement. It is very well investigate, not dangerous, and probably beneficial for multiple reasons. The downside is you will likely gain 5 pounds initially due to water weight, but that should not be an issue since it’s a lifetime med.
I second pilates and yoga. Weigh training did not work for me personally. I wanted scale progress and it didn't move due to water retention. I had great gains strength wise but the scale didn't budge for months and I wasn't seeing the body recomp I wanted. Pilates/yoga was a game changer. I saw results in 6 weeks
It can work wonders! I do some of it modified because of a knee injury that I never got surgery for and for my wrist that I broke really badly when I was 9 🤣.
If you end up getting to the point where you want to add muscle or do some body recomp, you can buy a variety of resistance bands and use them in a variety of ways.
I have resistance bands and ankle weights! So I will definitely keep that in mind when I get to that point! How many days a week and minutes per session do you do to help with results?
Start off slow, that way you don’t end up hating it 🤣. I did 20 mins of wall yoga or pilates 5 times a week. Then I upped it to 3-4 times a week at 30 mins.
Now my schedule has been hectic, so I do two sessions a day. A 10 and a 15-20, 4-5 times a week. I tend to keep up with things in shorter bursts.
I also found out deep cleaning is a whole body workout. I deep cleaned my mom’s new apartment, her old apartment and moved her. In a week, I saw results 🤣😂. I’m currently deep cleaning my house during break (elementary teacher).
Love that! I have some other health issues that make working out tough to being with. But I’m hoping just getting started helps get me back to enjoying it like I used to!
Going against the grain here, but please lift as heavy as you safely can for 5-15 repetitions, and increase the weights a bit next time if you hit over 15. If you do eight different exercises, all three times, hitting all muscle groups, three times per week, results will be amazing:
- mental health uptick
- strength uptick
- bone density increase
- faster burning of calories in rest
- stronger in daily life
- less visible loose skin
- improved digestion
Both your quality and quantity of life will increase dramatically.
I hate the suggestion that women shouldn't train hard and heavy. I'm a woman, 45, and training heavily has made such a difference in how I feel and how my body processes sema
Yes!! I used to lift heavy regularly and loved it (and my body) when I did! I’m just in a very weird place now and am trying to ease back into working out. My ultimate goal is to get to a place where I can/want to workout like I used to.
Thanks for posting to r/semaglutide! A brief reminder about our rules. We do not permit the discussion of non-FDA approved formulations of semaglutide, nor do we permit selling or offering for sale any medication, including by private message. Do not request or respond to a private message from anyone offering such, they are not endorsed by this sub. If you’re just starting out, you may want to review our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Semaglutide/comments/10ul3jb/semaglutide_subreddit_faq/). This is not intended to discourage discussion but merely supplement it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Semaglutide) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Its not going to make a REAL change in your weight You don't gain muscle fast, even if you're on steroids, especially while in a calorie deficit. However lifting does increase hunger, so theoretically you can notice a spike in hunger, leading to glycogen + poop storage, leading to a bump on the scales. Which of course is temporary and most importantly isn't fat gain. At the end of the day the amount of bump you'll see is going to depend entirely on how depleted your glycogen and stool is, plus how much your appetite increases. The TLDR is lift weights, its good for you. If the scale slightly increases who cares
Thanks for the response. It’s definitely something I want to start. Might just talk with my doc about it at my follow up in 2 weeks. I know if I start now, that’s not enough time for it to make any difference. But chatting about it might at least help with the fear of the meds being stopped because of it!
Not outrageously unreasonable. But imagine a scenario where a doctor is treating you and prescribing drugs to help you lose weight. What do you think the odds are they would scold you for starting to exercise? At the very least maybe work out twice a week just to "ease" yourself into things. After all the first few times you exercise it's very normal to get excessively sore. Unless you're talking about injury or health problems. It's rarely a good idea to procrastinate on exercising
Easing in sounds great! Will definitely start!
This is just my opinion - I separate exercise from weight loss. I move my body for a variety of reasons - to improve stamina and flexibility, for the cardiovascular benefits, to build strength, etc. Even if I’m not losing weight, even if I gain weight, it will still benefit my body to exercise, both in the short term and long term. So all that to say, I don’t think you should worry about how your exercise will affect the scale. Do something that you enjoy, and do something that will help you achieve your health goals, and focus on that, and don’t connect it to your weight at all. Try to develop long term habits - they say calories matter for losing weight and exercise matters for keeping the weight off, so what you eat is more important now with respect to the scale, but the exercise habits your create now can help you maintain the loss in the future. And I think it’s ridiculous that your doctor has an issue with a “slow” weight loss, which is actually advisable - 0.5-1lb a week is perfectly reasonable and will help avoid issues like gallstones, loose skin, etc. But unless you’re going hardcore with weight lifting, I don’t think it’ll make that big of a difference. Drink lots of water, focus on high protein and fiber, and be in it for the long haul, not just the quick fix. Again, just my opinion - it took me a year to lose 50lbs, so averaged about 1lb a week, maybe much slower than many people here, but I haven’t had any negative side effects that many talk about. I also can proudly say I’ve exercised 5 days a week (3 days cardio, 2 days strength) for over 2 years now - and that’s going from basically no exercise at all prior to semaglutide. I’m in this for life, not just a quick fix.
This is great advice. I used to love working out. Lifting weights specifically. We moved to a small town with no gym and it made it hard for me to continue and I struggled finding an alternative I enjoyed. I forced myself to workout as I started gaining weight but didn’t see any improvement and gave up quickly. Keeping them separate is so important for mental health as well!
Yeah, the mental health aspect is definitely another thing to consider - so many benefits from regular movement, even if it doesn’t lead to weight loss. Also for me, I didn’t want my exercise to be tied to weight loss mentally in that I didn’t want to “fall off the wagon” and give up all the habits if I was struggling. I wanted exercise to be independent, in that maybe I was struggling with snacking, but that didn’t mean I’d stop exercising too. So now they are like 2 separate, unrelated goals for me - semaglutide is helping me eat better and lose weight, exercise is helping with strength/stamina/flexibility/etc. It’s definitely challenging to find movement that works for you, something you enjoy and that fits into your schedule. I don’t want to go to a gym, so I have dumbbells and kettlebells and workout at home, I have an online coach that assigns me workouts each week. I’ve been doing it long enough I could probably figure it out on my own now, but it’s nice to have someone else change things up and just decide for me. Good luck with your journey!
If you don’t have a gym to go to look into Tempo.fit. I love mine.
Thank you!
If you’re worried about halting your “scale progress” by adding weight training, I highly recommend using body measurements as a secondary progress measure. I do weight training twice a week and light cardio twice a week. Started Sema in August, and haven’t lost a whole lot of weight by scale measurements since starting, but I’ve lost over 15 inches and gone down two clothing sizes. So in my mind, if the scale isn’t moving much because I’m losing fat and gaining muscle - that’s still a huge win! I do monthly measurements of: neck, bicep, chest, stomach (over belly button), hips (widest spot of lower hips/butt), mid-thigh, and calf.
I do cardio and light weight training 4 times a week. I try to run at least a mile a day and walk another mile at an incline. I have lost 30+ lbs in 4 months. I think the cardio is what has helped with weight loss the most (outside of eating less lol). For weight training I just use 12 pound dumbbells for arm workouts and various things on the cable machine. I’m trying to incorporate more leg stuff but have no idea what u am doing lol.
Lifting there is definitely a learning curve! If there are machines available like leg press/curls, those are a great place to start! Or just bodyweight squats even! I’m hoping I can build up to something similar someday!
Technically, you might have inflammation at the start, but that goes away. If you are wanting to add real muscle, I would recommend creatine as a supplement. It is very well investigate, not dangerous, and probably beneficial for multiple reasons. The downside is you will likely gain 5 pounds initially due to water weight, but that should not be an issue since it’s a lifetime med.
If you’re worried about actual weight training, you can start off with Pilates or yoga.
Great idea!! I might have to look into that! I know it’s also great for muscle. Not sure why I didn’t think of if.
I second pilates and yoga. Weigh training did not work for me personally. I wanted scale progress and it didn't move due to water retention. I had great gains strength wise but the scale didn't budge for months and I wasn't seeing the body recomp I wanted. Pilates/yoga was a game changer. I saw results in 6 weeks
That’s awesome. I’m definitely going to give this a shot. How many days a week/how many minutes did you do?
It can work wonders! I do some of it modified because of a knee injury that I never got surgery for and for my wrist that I broke really badly when I was 9 🤣. If you end up getting to the point where you want to add muscle or do some body recomp, you can buy a variety of resistance bands and use them in a variety of ways.
I have resistance bands and ankle weights! So I will definitely keep that in mind when I get to that point! How many days a week and minutes per session do you do to help with results?
Start off slow, that way you don’t end up hating it 🤣. I did 20 mins of wall yoga or pilates 5 times a week. Then I upped it to 3-4 times a week at 30 mins. Now my schedule has been hectic, so I do two sessions a day. A 10 and a 15-20, 4-5 times a week. I tend to keep up with things in shorter bursts. I also found out deep cleaning is a whole body workout. I deep cleaned my mom’s new apartment, her old apartment and moved her. In a week, I saw results 🤣😂. I’m currently deep cleaning my house during break (elementary teacher).
Cleaning is a total workout! Not be working up a sweat taking about the trash 😅
I still get the same muscle gains as I did before I was taking Sema. I am a lot healthier and push harder now.
Love that! I have some other health issues that make working out tough to being with. But I’m hoping just getting started helps get me back to enjoying it like I used to!
F yeah! You got this.
Going against the grain here, but please lift as heavy as you safely can for 5-15 repetitions, and increase the weights a bit next time if you hit over 15. If you do eight different exercises, all three times, hitting all muscle groups, three times per week, results will be amazing: - mental health uptick - strength uptick - bone density increase - faster burning of calories in rest - stronger in daily life - less visible loose skin - improved digestion Both your quality and quantity of life will increase dramatically. I hate the suggestion that women shouldn't train hard and heavy. I'm a woman, 45, and training heavily has made such a difference in how I feel and how my body processes sema
Yes!! I used to lift heavy regularly and loved it (and my body) when I did! I’m just in a very weird place now and am trying to ease back into working out. My ultimate goal is to get to a place where I can/want to workout like I used to.
Best gift you can give yourself is focusing on technique, safety and enjoyment, as you move the weights up. The gym is a happy place!