Is Pilates good for strength training on a GLP-1?

Is Pilates good for strength training on a GLP-1?

Maybe you've started a GLP-1 medication like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound, or a newer pill like Foundayo, and the scale is finally moving. Maybe you're tired in a way you didn't expect, and a workout is the last thing on your list. You're not the only one.

I teach Pilates at my studio in Westminster's Historic Art District. After 25 years in therapeutic movement, I know where my lane ends: I'm not your prescriber and I don't give medical advice. This post covers what the research says about exercise on these medications, and where Pilates fits.

Do I need to exercise on Ozempic, Zepbound, or another GLP-1?

Moving helps on any of them, and strength work is the piece the research keeps pointing to.

An endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic says that without exercise, some of the weight lost on these medications can be muscle, and muscle is hard to get back. Her advice is strength training, built up gradually. There's some nuance. Researchers writing in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology point out that the lean mass lost isn't all muscle, and we don't yet know much about what it means for long-term strength. So no panic, just a good reason to protect what you have.

People may be moving less, too. A study presented at the Endocrine Society in 2026 looked at 753 adults with obesity wearing Fitbits. After they started a GLP-1, their moderate to vigorous activity dropped from about 28 minutes a day to about 22. That's a conference presentation and it's early, so let's not hold it as hard science yet.

And in a Danish trial, people who combined exercise with a GLP-1 kept more weight off a year after treatment ended than people on the drug alone. It's one trial, and it used liraglutide, an older GLP-1 than the ones you hear about most.

Is Pilates enough strength training on a GLP-1?

Not by itself. Pilates is foundational movement.

Reformer springs and your own body weight can only add so much load. Building up weights gradually, which is what the guidance describes, is a different kind of training. As far as I know, nobody has tested Pilates in people on these medications yet, so I won't tell you it's the answer.

What Pilates does is teach you to move well. You learn control, you build strength in positions that go easy on your joints, and you find out where you're weak. Once squats on the reformer and rolling your spine down on the long box feel good, you're ready to build toward other goals.

If the gym is the part that stops you, I wrote about where to start if the gym intimidates you.

What if I'm too tired to work out?

Then we start where you are that day.

In a private session I modify the exercises to fit your body: a different spring, a different position, a shorter push. [LANA: what does a low-energy day session actually look like?] Some days a session is the whole workout. Some days it's the start of one.

Tiredness, nausea, and dizziness are things to bring to your prescriber, not to me. Cleveland Clinic's advice is to stop and contact your provider if you feel dizzy, nauseated, or short of breath. I also ask for clearance from your healthcare provider before your first session, so that conversation is built in. The release waiver is on the site if you'd like to read it first.

Come try it with me, and take advantage of the New Client Special I'm running at Pila-Teas. Have a question first? Send it my way. We'll debrief over a cup in our Tea Bar.