VOL. 10 · JULY 11, 2026

Happy Saturday, fellas. Time to talk about the new GLP-1 medications and what you ACTUALLY need to know about them — not what those incredibly annoying, repetitive commercials keep spitting in your face while you're only trying to watch the US blow it in the World Cup.

THE RESEARCH — The Strongest Weight-Loss Drugs Ever Made, and the Catch on the Scale

First off — what these drugs are doing is incredible. There's no soft way to put it.

In the SURMOUNT-1 study, tirzepatide — the GIP/GLP-1 drug sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound — produced average weight loss of up to 22.5% of body weight over 72 weeks. That's territory that used to require bariatric surgery. Retatrutide, the next one in line, is a triple agonist (it adds glucagon), and in its phase 2 trial it drove roughly 24% weight loss at 48 weeks. (Retatrutide is still investigational — phase 3 is reading out now — so your doctor can't prescribe it yet, but what is is doing is undeniable.) Better yet —these medications are showing cardiovascular improvements independent of weight-loss. That is a BIG deal, but a conversation for another day.

Now the catch the online fitness militia seems desperate to warn you about: "these drugs eat your muscle."

Here's the honest version. We use DEXA scans to measure loss of "lean mass" which most men think means ONLY muscle mass. That number isn't pure muscle — it's muscle plus water, glycogen, connective tissue, and organ weight. Lose weight fast and some of that "lean" drop is fluid and glycogen, not the muscle that moves you. And the part the headlines bury: in SURMOUNT-1, fat loss outpaced lean-mass loss by about three to one (a 33.9% cut in fat mass versus 10.9% in lean mass). Composition improved. People got leaner, not just smaller.

And this is the part that cuts both ways. As much as we have to be honest about the real dangers of some drugs, we also have to be honest that some of these downsides have been overblown. Yes, some real muscle comes off during any big weight loss. Do it rapidly, without lifting, without enough protein — especially as an older man — and you'll lose function that you are sure going to miss. The long-term and older-adult data are still maturing, and these drugs have real GI side effects. But "they eat your muscle" as a flat headline? Overblown.

The takeaway: If you train and eat well — enough protein, roughly 0.7–1 gram per pound of bodyweight — the weight will come off and you'll be building the exact habits that make you stronger for the long haul. GLP-1s are not get-skinny-quick schemes. They're a tool. And like any tool, if you wield it like a jackass — no lifting, no protein, just a body quietly shrinking — you'll pay the price.

Jastreboff AM, et al. Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2022;387:205–216. PMID: 35658024.Jastreboff AM, et al. Triple–Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity — A Phase 2 Trial. N Engl J Med. 2023;389:514–526. PMID: 37366315.

WORTH REMEMBERING

This is the quote I open the Introduction of The Heroic Man with — one of my favorite dialogues about fitness from the great Socrates himself. (Though remember, kids: everything Socrates "said" was written down by either Xenophon or Plato, so take any of it with a slight grain of salt. You've probably also seen the punchier "no man has the right to be an amateur" version floating around — that one's a modern paraphrase. This is closer to the real line.) The point survives all of it: a drug can shrink you, but it cannot build you. Developing what your body is capable of was always going to be your work. No injection retires that obligation.

TRY THIS WEEK

Gut your pantry.

Walk in tonight and pull out the snacks you know you shouldn't be eating.

Here's the killer for most men: you come home after yelling at a computer screen all day or dealing with Joe in the office who keeps microwaving his salmon for lunch, you're tired, maybe irritable, and there's food in that pantry or beer in that fridge that's calling your name. It's not that those things are all inherently "bad" — it's that you can put away an elephant-sized portion of them in five minutes without blinking. That's what knocks you off the wagon.

And let's have an a truly honest moment here: GLP-1s wouldn't have much of a weight-loss market if we could build some basic self-control and better habits around food. We have an overconsumption problem. So purge the stuff you know isn't serving you.

This goes for your kids, too. I know — your kid will only eat Kraft mac n cheese. Fine. They don't need the other 400 snacks in the cabinet. And let's be real: most of those are for you, and you blame it on her.

You know who you are.

FROM THE BOOKSHELF

The Good Life Handbook — Epictetus (a plain-English rendering of the Enchiridion)

Epictetus is a favorite of mine. This little handbook has been a bedside reader for years, and I toss it in my bag when I travel — a quick, daily hit of wisdom on how to live well. Most of us are running around busy, over-scheduled, half-present (a conversation for another day). But the point is this: you don't need a 500-page tome. You need a little hard-hitting wisdom on a regular basis. Some good poetry, a daily devotional, the Enchiridion — whatever it is, you need it.

This one has always been a go to of mine:

You are not a child. You are a man. Now act like a good one.

CLOSING THOUGHT

GLP-1s seem to be the golden goose today — and there are plenty of people are arguing that most of the country will be on them in one form or another before long. I don't know what the future holds. But I do know this: you simply cannot become healthier, stronger, and more resilient through a medication. If you could, we'd all be living longer and better. Yet we aren't.

Even with these drugs, men fall right back into their old ways. This was always about building habits — and using the tools as a supplement to that work, never a replacement for it. The man in the mirror, the person inside you, has to actually want to put in the work.

Get after it my man and don't be swayed by these awful commercials, worse influencers, or the delicious taste of peanut butter pretzels (my genuine weakness).

See you next Saturday.

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