Ozempic and different semaglutide medicines have skyrocketed in reputation as weight-loss aids, with prescriptions surging by over 300% previously 12 months alone. Developed as a remedy for managing Sort 2 diabetes, these medicines have grow to be family names in well being and wellness circles as properly. You could even know somebody who’s at the moment taking it—whether or not it is to manage their blood sugar, shed a couple of kilos earlier than their wedding ceremony or assist slim down earlier than the racing season.
Ozempic (semaglutide) is a part of a category of medicines referred to as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which have been developed to assist handle blood glucose ranges in folks with diabetes. Ozempic obtained FDA approval in 2017 and has since surged in reputation because of its weight-loss advantages, even amongst non-diabetic people. Ozempic works by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, which regulates urge for food. It suppresses urge for food, slows gastric emptying and promotes emotions of fullness, usually resulting in decreased calorie consumption. When an individual burns extra energy than they eat, they’re in a calorie deficit, which leads to weight reduction.
Whereas these medicines provide substantial well being advantages for individuals who actually want them—reminiscent of managing Sort 2 Diabetes or attaining vital weight reduction when different strategies have failed—their widespread adoption, now extending into endurance sports activities communities, raises an vital query: are they protected for energetic people? Can Ozempic be a software that will help you obtain or preserve race weight?
Not all weight reduction is similar
Once we flip our focus to endurance athletes—reminiscent of long-distance runners, cyclists and triathletes—we all know that top ranges of power are important to compete and carry out optimally. Reaching this relies closely on correct vitamin, mixed with muscular endurance, constant coaching and satisfactory restoration.
Dr. Xavier Collazo, a DPT specialising in sports activities efficiency and rehabilitation at Tampa Bay Efficiency Bodily Remedy, emphasises that the advantages of GLP-1 medicine have to be rigorously balanced towards the potential dangers, notably for athletes.
“Whereas these results might be useful to these coping with excessive BMIs or weight problems, the endurance athlete, who requires massive power sources to carry out and compete, will usually discover that these results would lower efficiency to a level,” he says.
“To not point out the truth that if you drop pounds, you do lose muscle, which is the driving pressure of all our motion.”
In biking, it’s lengthy been believed that reducing weight improves one’s power-to-weight ratio a.okay.a watts per kilogram. Thus, GLP-1 medicines might seem to be an interesting software at first look. Nonetheless, these medicines could cause muscle loss, which can negatively influence each your watts per kilogram and total physique composition. Consequently, whereas the quantity on the size may go down, your energy output might decline alongside it.
The Danger of Underneath-fueling
Diet is a cornerstone of each efficiency and restoration. Protein is crucial for muscle restore and progress, carbohydrates gasoline power wants, and wholesome fat assist mind perform. With suppressed urge for food comes the danger of under-fueling and doubtlessly disrupting the physique’s restoration processes, in the end resulting in a decline in efficiency.
Biking calls for a excessive caloric consumption to maintain intense coaching and assist restoration. The priority with Ozempic lies in its potent appetite-suppressing results, which might trigger one to unintentionally underfuel. This discount of caloric consumption can hinder the restoration course of and enhance the danger of overtraining and damage.
The Nice Unknown
As GLP-1 medicines grow to be extra broadly used, analysis on their long-term results continues to be in its early phases. With mass manufacturing and distribution comparatively latest, there’s a lot now we have but to know about their broader implications.
“For now, in my private opinion, I’d advise athletes to stay to extra typical strategies of weight reduction, working with nutritionists, dieticians, or just structuring their coaching and consumption higher,” says Collazo.
“We all know this can present the perfect, pure consequence with out the negative effects of potential muscle loss, GI disturbance, and different long-term negative effects that we’re unaware of.”
