Your lifts feel heavy? That's not muscle loss. That's weight loss.
You've dropped 50+ pounds on a GLP-1. Feeling incredible. Then one day your bench press feels like it's trying to bury you. Your squat that used to be easy now feels like a max effort. Cue the spiral: "Is the GLP-1 eating my gains?" Here's the truth most people don't want to hear: This happens during ANY significant weight loss. GLP-1 or not. If you've never done a proper cut before, you have zero frame of reference for what's normal. Your strength was always going to plateau. That's not the peptide. That's physics, glycogen, and hormones. The three reasons your lifts feel heavy (and why you're probably fine): 1. Mass moves mass - You weigh 70 pounds less. Different leverages. Different physics. A 250lb person squatting 315 is moving 565 total pounds. At 180? You're moving 495 with less muscle to do it. 2. You're running on empty - Chronically low glycogen from eating in a deficit. Studies show this alone can reduce strength 10-30% even when muscle is preserved. 3. Hormonal reality - During prolonged deficits, testosterone drops 10-30%, thyroid downregulates, cortisol stays elevated. This is your body's survival mechanism, not a drug side effect. And here's the kicker: Those influencers telling you they "maintained all their strength during their cut"? Yeah, they're on 200mg of test per week. Stop comparing your natural cut to someone who's enhanced. But here's what matters most: None of this is permission to back off your training intensity. The article breaks down exactly what to do about each factor - including the strategic carb timing that actually works on a GLP-1. Full breakdown including: - When you should actually worry vs. what's normal - Pre-workout carb protocol that won't trigger GLP-1 nausea - What strength changes to expect at 20lbs, 50lbs, 70lbs+ lost - How to maintain muscle while accepting temporary strength plateaus Read it here: https://derekpruski.substack.com/p/youre-not-losing-muscleyoure-just