MINI REVIEW article
Front. Clin. Diabetes Healthc.
Sec. Diabetes, Lifestyle and Metabolic Syndrome
This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in Clinical Diabetes and HealthcareView all 14 articles
GLP-1 Agonists and Exercise: The Future of Lifestyle Prioritization
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- 2IRCCS MultiMedica, Sesto San Giovanni, Italy
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Recent literature shows that GLP-1 receptor agonists are highly effective for weight loss and improving metabolic and cardiovascular health, often surpassing the results of lifestyle interventions alone, such as exercise and diet modification. However, long-term weight maintenance is more successful when exercise is included, as stopping GLP-1 therapy alone often leads to weight regain, while exercise helps preserve muscle mass and sustain weight loss. Combining GLP-1 receptor agonists with structured lifestyle changes, especially increased protein intake and strength training, can mitigate muscle loss and enhance overall outcomes. As a result, future obesity management is likely to prioritize integrated approaches that combine pharmacotherapy with lifestyle interventions, rather than replacing lifestyle changes with medication alone.
Keywords: type 2 diabetes, Exercise-as-a-medicine, training, Metabolism, Health
Received: 09 Oct 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Codella, Senesi and Luzi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Roberto Codella, roberto.codella@unimi.it
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