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People Walk, Exercise Less After Starting Ozempic, Zepbound
- June 16, 2026
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
Folks losing weight on Ozempic or Zepbound tend to start slacking off when it comes to exercise, a new study says.
People’s daily step count and physical activity declined after starting a GLP-1 medication, researchers reported Saturday at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.
“While many assume that weight loss leads naturally to increased physical activity, our study suggests otherwise,” lead researcher Dr. Sajana Maharjan of HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, said in a news release.
This is problematic because GLP-1 drugs cause people to lose lean muscle mass as well as fat, researchers said. Users must work out to preserve their strength and long-term health.
For the new study, researchers analyzed movement data on more than 750 people who wore a Fitbit activity tracker after they started a GLP-1 drug.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs mimic the GLP-1 hormone, which helps control insulin and blood sugar levels, decreases appetite and slows digestion of food.
On average, daily steps decreased from 5,047 to 4,487 steps after people started on a GLP-1 drug, the study found.
Likewise, their daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise declined from 28 to 22 minutes per day.
The largest declines were seen in men and in people with joint or muscle pain, researchers said.
Men got 986 fewer daily steps after starting a GLP-1 compared to 445 fewer among women, the data showed.
Likewise, those with muscle or joint pain had 679 fewer steps, while those without such pain had a decline of 22 fewer steps per day.
The team found no evidence at all that people were more motivated to engage in physical activity after they lost weight.
“The findings in our study reinforce that exercise cannot be optional for people taking these medications,” Maharjan said. “People need targeted interventions that encourage physical activity alongside medication for obesity.”
Research presented at meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
Massachusetts General Hospital has exercise recommendations for people taking GLP-1 drugs.
SOURCES: The Endocrine Society, news release, June 13, 2026; The Endocrine Society, study abstract, June 13, 2026
