People on Ozempic and Other GLP-1 Drugs Are Moving Less, a New Study Finds

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound have transformed the conversation around weight loss in Canada and around the world. But a new study is raising a question that has not gotten much attention yet: what happens to your activity levels once you start taking one of these medications?

The short answer, based on data from 753 people living with obesity, is that they appear to go down.

What the Research Found

The study was presented at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago, in June. Researchers used data from the National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program, linking participants' electronic health records with their Fitbit activity data to track movement before and after they began taking a GLP-1 medication.

The results showed that participants' average daily step count dropped from about 5,047 steps to 4,487 steps per day after starting the drug. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity fell as well, from 28 minutes per day down to 22 minutes. The declines were largest in men and in people living with joint or muscle pain.

Study lead Dr. Sajana Maharjan was direct about what this means: "While many assume that weight loss leads naturally to increased physical activity, our study suggests otherwise."

Notably, there was also no evidence in the data that weight loss from GLP-1 medications led to increased activity levels. The assumption that losing weight would make people want to move more did not hold up in this group.

Why This Matters, and What Experts Say

Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, a professor in the medicine department at McMaster University and a diabetes physician, noted there are several possible explanations for the activity drop. Some people may simply feel the medication is doing the work and ease up on physical effort. Others who experience nausea or fatigue from the drug may naturally move less in the early weeks.

But the concern about muscle mass is real. Dr. Dana Small, a neurology and neurosurgery professor at McGill University, explained it clearly: when you lose weight, you lose both fat and muscle. If you are not exercising while on the drug and you then come off it and regain weight, the weight that returns tends to be fat rather than lean mass. That outcome is worse than where you started.

"GLP-1 drugs are not a magic bullet," Dr. Small told Global News.

The Canadian experts quoted in coverage of this study were consistent in their message: physical activity is not optional for people taking these medications. It needs to be built into the plan from the start, not treated as a bonus if you feel up to it.

With generic GLP-1 drugs now widely available at Canadian pharmacies, more Canadians than ever are starting or considering these medications. If you are thinking about whether a GLP-1 is right for you, talking to your family doctor or a nurse practitioner first is the right move. Find one through medimap.ca.