Game-changing. Revolutionary. Unprecedented. These are the kinds of adjectives commonly used to describe the new class of anti-obesity drugs that includes Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. These prescription medications mimic the actions of gut hormones that stimulate the release of insulin, which lowers blood sugar after eating and causes the stomach to empty more slowly. These drugs are so effective at suppressing appetite and helping people lose weight that manufacturers are struggling just to keep up with the demand.

The weight loss that people achieve with these medications, however, does not provide all the health benefits they need. And these drugs have necessitated a re-focusing of lifestyle factors for the people who take them, including recommendations for physical activity and exercise, said John Jakicic, Ph.D., research professor in the Division of Physical Activity and Weight Management at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Jakicic and Renee Rogers, Ph.D., senior scientist in the KU Medical Center Division of Physical Activity and Weight Management, have published one of the first peer-reviewed articles about how physical activity fits into the treatment of obesity when using these anti-obesity medications. The article appeared in Obesity, the journal of The Obesity Society, on October 17, and Jakicic discussed these topics on a recent Morning Medical Update by The University of Kansas Health System.

“These medications have changed how we need to think about activity,” said Jakicic. “They can take care of the weight loss for us, so our focus should not be on how much activity we need to do to lose more weight; it should be about all the other things the activity does that the weight loss medications don’t do.”

These include cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength, which exercise improves even if someone doesn’t lose an ounce. “So it’s not about having people exercise in order to have more weight loss,” said Jakicic. “It's about rethinking activities so that people understand even if you're losing all this weight, you still need to be active. Patients need to understand that, and clinicians need to understand that.”

The researchers also state that with these new medications, the current recommendation of 200 to 300 minutes of exercise a week to lose weight might be no longer necessary. They propose instead that the public health recommendation to reduce sedentary behavior, which is 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity (such as a brisk walk) and two days per week of resistance exercise, may be sufficient for people taking anti-obesity drugs.