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ForumsExercise & Body CompositionHIIT vs LISS cardio on GLP-1 — which preserves more muscle?

HIIT vs LISS cardio on GLP-1 — which preserves more muscle?

mike.trainer_LA Wed, Jun 3, 2026 at 3:50 AM 20 replies 410 viewsPage 1 of 4
mike.trainer_LA
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Jun 3, 2026 at 3:50 AM#1

Posting this because the summary going around does not say what the paper says, and the difference matters for how people here are using it.

Training does two things here and only one of them is on the scale. It protects lean mass — which is the reason to do it — and it contributes modestly to the deficit, which is the reason people start and then quit when the arithmetic disappoints them. In a deep deficit, resistance work is the priority and high-volume cardio competes with recovery.

Where I think it is weakest: the subgroup findings are the part I trust least — with enough subgroups something is always significant, and these were not all pre-registered.

So the question, as narrowly as I can put it: what training is actually for during a large deficit, because framing it as calorie burn sets people up to quit when the arithmetic disappoints them. I would rather have one careful answer than five confident ones.

Note on sourcing:
Figures above are from the primary publication rather than the press summary. If a number here disagrees with one you have, post yours and we will work out which of us is reading a secondary source.
31 1Dr.AddMedPHL, newstart_MO, mia_MS2 and 28 others
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DataDave
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Jun 3, 2026 at 4:01 AM#2
mike.trainer_LA said:
Training does two things here and only one of them is on the scale.

Agreed on the ranges, with the condition that a single DEXA is not a measurement, it is one draw from a distribution. Hydration status moves the lean compartment by a kilogram or more between scans, so any comparison of scans done at different times of day or different hydration states is noise.

Last edited: Jun 3, 2026 at 5:01 AM
30 0mike_nyc, VendorMark, COA_Karl and 27 others
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VendorMark
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Jun 3, 2026 at 4:12 AM#3
mike.trainer_LA said:
Training does two things here and only one of them is on the scale.

Filing a mild objection. Mild because I might be wrong; an objection because nobody has addressed the case that does not fit. I think this board over-worries about lean mass. Some lean loss is obligatory — you need less muscle to move a smaller body, and preserving mass you no longer need is not a health outcome. The question is whether strength and function held, and mine did.

29 24MarkLI_maint, Dr.PeteFamMed, claudia_zurich and 26 others
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Dr.PathRoch
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Jun 3, 2026 at 4:23 AM#4

Answering the narrow version, because the broad one does not have a single answer. The honest range is roughly 20 to 40% of total loss as lean mass without deliberate resistance training, and roughly 10 to 20% with it plus adequate protein. Both numbers need a caveat that matters: "lean mass" on a DEXA is not muscle. It includes water, glycogen and the lean fraction of organs, and glycogen alone carries about three grams of water per gram. A large early lean drop is mostly the glycogen and water going, which is why the first scan flatters and the second is the honest one.

Last edited: Jun 3, 2026 at 10:23 AM
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FranDenver
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Jun 3, 2026 at 5:18 AM#5
DataDave said:
Agreed on the ranges, with the condition that a single DEXA is not a measurement, it is one draw from a distribution.

Adding a me-too, because a thread of one person's experience is not much use.

Last edited: Jun 3, 2026 at 11:18 AM
27 22GenomicsKate, Dr.ObesityMed, HealthEcon_DC and 24 others
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