Reverse Ozempic’s frail, saggy-skin look – and banish dreaded ‘skinny fat’ – with this 40-minute workout you can do at home from a trainer whose clients are ALL on jabs

When personal trainer Meaghan Dobinson hears that one of her clients is starting a course of GLP-1 weight-loss medication, she can predict exactly what will happen – and prepares to lose a customer, at least in the short term.

After eight years working in the fitness industry, and with a Pilates studio in Sydney’s upmarket Double Bay, Meaghan has seen countless trends send women flocking to the gym to get arms like Michelle Obama or abs like Halle Berry. 

But she says the surge in weight-loss injections has triggered a different response: women quitting exercise altogether – with potentially dangerous consequences.

‘Most of my clientele who start GLP-1s are women who just want to drop a few kilos,’ Meaghan tells the Daily Mail. ‘I don’t really have any clients who are battling diabetes. It’s more about reducing food noise and anxiety around snacking. When they start a GLP-1, that stops. They don’t eat – some barely eat at all – and that’s a problem.’

Their lack of food is often matched by a lack of impulse to exercise. With the kilos falling off, the gym suddenly feels like an unnecessary inconvenience.

‘They’ve achieved their desired outcome: thinness,’ she says. ‘They might only push light weights around once or twice a week, or they stop working out completely.’

But there’s a reason these women boomerang back to the gym, says Meaghan – and it usually happens within a few months of quitting.

‘Whether you’re on a GLP-1 or not, if you go for rapid weight loss without incorporating muscle-building exercise and a high-protein diet, you’re going to lose muscle and end up with loose skin,’ she warns. 

She also lists additional concerns: ‘Skin issues, bloating, that aged look.’

When her Ozempic clients return, having realised their mistake, she welcomes them back with a schedule that ‘feels like a lot’ but delivers ‘amazing outcomes’: four 40-minute weight-bearing sessions a week, using pin-loaded gym machines or free weights at home for those without a gym membership.

A typical workout includes leg press and shoulder press, bicep curls, tricep extensions and deadlifts. ‘Anything where you’re loading up your bones,’ she says. 

Her concerns are echoed by Ken Griffin, Chief Executive Officer of AUSactive, Australia’s peak body for the exercise and active health sector.

He warns that Australia is on the brink of ‘trading fat for frailty’ and is calling on the government for urgent policy change around the soaring use of ‘miracle’ weight-loss drugs.

‘If taxpayers are funding these drugs for life, exercise must be part of the script,’ says Ken. ‘Otherwise, the true cost will be paid in frailty, brittle bones, future hospitalisations and falls.’

In its pre-budget submission, AUSactive has called for national reform recognising structured physical activity as an ‘essential component’ of GLP-1 prescribing.

The proposed reforms include formally integrating exercise professionals into GLP-1 care pathways and making physical activity a requirement of prescribing protocols.

The peak body believes this will save lives, save taxpayers billions, and prevent further strain on the health system.

‘Hospitals must always be well-funded, but the focus must shift upstream,’ says Ken. ‘We need to build a fence at the top of the cliff, not keep sending more ambulances to the bottom.’

For Meaghan, working with a rising number of clients on GLP-1 receptor agonists requires patience.

She often has to let them step away during the ‘honeymoon period’ of rapid weight loss before welcoming them back when they return in search of sustainable, long-term results.

As a wellness expert, Meaghan hopes people look to healthier role models than the actresses shocking Hollywood with their worryingly thin bodies on the red carpet.

‘If you’re just thin and you don’t have any muscle tone to support your spine and hips, it becomes a problem,’ she says.

‘That [look] is unrealistic – unless you also have $80,000 to spend on a facelift.’ 

She also notes the well-researched anti-ageing benefits of maintaining muscle mass.

Her longer-term ‘Ozempians’ always come back, Meaghan says.

‘They’ve lost the weight, but they’re not feeling how you want to feel,’ she explains.

‘They want curves back. They don’t want to look weak. I think it’s crazy that anyone would think they can stop exercising. When you’re on a GLP-1, you need to spend more time working out than ever.’

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