Absolute Fitness

GLP-1s can be a very effective tool for weight loss.

But eating less of a bad diet isn't the same as eating a better diet.

If your appetite drops dramatically but the quality of your food doesn't improve, you're likely getting even less protein, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients your body needs.

And without enough protein and strength training, you're likely to lose muscle as well as fat.

Less muscle means a less metabolically active body — you burn fewer calories each day.

So if the medication stops and your appetite returns, you've potentially got a bad combination:

More hunger + less muscle + lower calorie requirements.

GLP-1s can help you lose weight. But use the opportunity to improve your diet, eat enough protein and maintain or build muscle.

I've had about 6 creatine conversations this week, so to try stopping me pulling out what little hair I have left, here's the short version.

Creatine isn’t just for people trying to get bigger.

It’s one of the most researched supplements available, and the benefits are pretty extensive:

Increased strength and power
Improved performance during repeated high-intensity exercise
Greater muscle gain from resistance training
Helps maintain muscle as we age
Potential benefits for memory and cognitive performance
Particularly interesting research around maintaining cognitive performance when sleep deprived

Creatine works by increasing phosphocreatine stores in your muscles and brain, helping your body regenerate ATP. Essentially, readily available energy for your cells.

And you don’t need anything fancy.

3–5g of creatine monohydrate per day is enough for most people. You don't need to cycle it, and timing isn't particularly important.

Training isn't the end goal.

Being strong enough to keep doing the things you enjoy is.

Walking the dog. Exploring. Playing with your kids. Travelling. Getting outside without worrying about whether your body can handle it.

The work you do in the gym should make life outside it better.

That's the point.

Getting stronger isn’t about lifting the heaviest weight in the gym.

It’s about lifting a little more than you could before.

For one person, progress might be their first deadlift.

For someone else, it might be adding 5kg to the bar, doing two more reps, or moving with better control.

The numbers will be different for everyone. The principle stays the same:

Start where you are. Then build from there.

Saturday morning.

The gym doesn’t need to take over your weekend.

Get in. Get your training done. Get on with your day.

An hour invested in yourself before most people have decided what they’re doing with their Saturday.

Confidence in motion.

Can you get stronger whilst losing weight?

Yes. Strength isn't just about how much muscle you have. Improvements in technique, coordination and your ability to use the muscle you already have mean you can get considerably stronger even while your bodyweight is coming down.

Can you build muscle whilst losing weight?

Yes. Your body can lose stored fat while building muscle at the same time. This is particularly achievable if you're new to resistance training, returning after a break, or have a reasonable amount of body fat to lose.

Can you maintain muscle whilst losing weight?

Absolutely. With enough protein, resistance training and a sensible calorie deficit, you can retain most, and sometimes essentially all, of your muscle while losing fat.

Can you build muscle whilst starving yourself?

Not really.

Can you maintain muscle whilst starving yourself?

Not indefinitely. The more severe and prolonged the calorie restriction, the harder it becomes to preserve muscle. Your body doesn't exclusively burn stored fat for energy. Eventually, lean tissue gets broken down too.

This is why losing weight as quickly as possible isn't necessarily a good result.

Two people can both lose 10kg.

One loses mostly fat, maintains or even gains muscle, and gets stronger.

A gym membership is cheaper than a nursing home.

For most of your life, strength training is optional.

Eventually, being weak makes other things stop being optional.

You can invest in strength, balance and independence now, or potentially pay a much higher price for losing them later.

Train while it’s still a choice.

Thanks for all the birthday messages yesterday.

I celebrated the day before at La Haule Manor with Laura and Luca. My actual birthday started in the gym.

I get why people take the day off training on their birthday. Some are busy, some just think, “On my birthday? NO chance!”

But I feel at my best after training, so birthdays are one of the best times to get a session in.

Doing something hard first makes everything afterwards feel better.

Train hard. Then eat, drink and play in the pool guilt-free.

Not a bad way to spend a birthday.

⚖️ The scales aren't lying. They're just answering a different question.

The scales only tell you how much you weigh.

They don't tell you:

How much muscle you have.
How much body fat you have.
Whether you're getting stronger.
Whether your clothes fit better.
Whether your blood pressure has improved.

Weight matters.

It just shouldn't be the only thing that matters.

(Perfect tie-in to your InBody.)

The eclipse a few days ago was pretty great, but the atmosphere is what made it.

Hundreds of people sat together along the coast, sharing eclipse glasses with complete strangers and passing around homemade viewing boxes (Boxes of wine) so other people could get a look.

Hundreds of birds sat on the water waiting. Similar numbers of people doing the same. The traffic chaos. People watching from their cars in fields because they couldn't get any further, just added to the buzz.

It was a beautiful day and a really nice bit of community spirit.

Around 94% of the Sun covered. Incredible how bright it was with roughly 6% of its normal light.