After her daughter was born, she said, “I was never able to get to the weight I needed to, no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained.” Where diet and exercise failed, Williams said, weight loss pills helped — and she lost 14 pounds in a year. The ad had a promotional sheen—she’s the spokeswoman for telehealth company Ro’s weight-loss program. Yet one can’t shake the feeling that the fitness industry is looking at a challenger on the other side of the court: Ozympek.
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A host of new-generation weight-loss drugs have thrown down the gauntlet at gyms. Called GLP1 receptor agonists, they slow digestion, which makes patients feel fuller for longer, and have become the silver bullet for weight loss. Novo Nordisk’s Ozympic and Vigovi, which contain the active ingredient semaglutide, and Eli Lilly’s Monjaro, which contains terzapatide, are more of a medical phenomenon. They are changing how people eat, shop and lose weight.
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This change will accelerate in India as semaglutide’s patent in the country expires on March 20. Cheap generics are set to flood the market. Until now, cost has been an obstacle for many. An Ozympic pen, which contains four pre-filled shots for a month, costs Rs 8,800-11,175, depending on the dose, while Vigoi costs Rs 10,850-16,400. Generic drugs are expected to cost less than half of that — Rs 3,000-5,000 a month, ET reports.
How will the Indian fitness and nutrition industry respond to this development, when weight loss can be achieved with cheap shots?
Get a fit, James?
Fears that gym memberships will drop as people abandon rigorous fitness regimes for drugs. Anuj Srivastava, founder of Bangalore-based fitness studio Troop, says the impact on the industry cannot be denied. “People looking for a quick fix will gravitate to this,” says the 37-year-old. Soldiers actually advise clients on the use of GLP-1 drugs. “There’s so much misinformation out there about nutrition and fitness that people are confused. And now we’re introducing a shiny new thing,” he says.
Vikas Jain, MD of Anityam Fitness, which runs about 185 centers in India, says the chain has been getting a lot of inquiries from pharmaceutical companies that manufacture GLP-1 drugs to explore the vision in its gyms. However, he says, they are taking a cautious stance because there are mixed opinions about these drugs. “As a fitness brand, our priority is to guide members responsibly. While we educate them about the pros and cons of these drugs, we want to wait and see what kind of long-term performance results they deliver,” says Jain.
However, Rishab Thilang, co-founder of Cult.fit – which manages 700 gyms in 60 cities – says this is an opportunity for the industry rather than a threat. He says the sector needs to be prepared for an increase in users seeking training support when using these drugs. “Some studies show that muscle loss accounts for 30-40% of weight loss,” he says. Training should focus on hypertrophy, increase muscle size, and require intensity because most users are on calorie restrictions, says Talang. “The complexity of training increases when one is exposed to GLP-1 drugs, and trainers and coaches need to understand the physiology,” he adds.
A well-documented effect of GLP-1 drugs is weight loss, which reduces performance, increases injury risk and accelerates age-related frailty if not actively combated.
Thiling says 750 Cult.fit trainers will complete the GLP-1 Weight Loss Support Training Program of the International Exercise Science Association (ISSA), the global fitness certification provider. “Any trainer who doesn’t know what a GLP-1 drug is, can’t train someone who has the drug,” he says.
PILATES VS PEN?
Yasmeen Karachiwala, a pilates trainer from Mumbai, also expects the conversation about drugs and training to expand as access expands. “A drug may suppress appetite, but it doesn’t build muscle, improve posture, strengthen bones or teach your body to move better,” he says. “So instead of reducing the need for fitness professionals, I think it will increase the need for educated instructors who understand body composition, strength and long-term health.”
Dr. Ambrish Mittal, Group Director – Endocrinology and Diabetology at Max Healthcare, says that he recommends a nutrition and exercise plan to all of his overweight and diabetic patients, whether they are on GLP-1 medication or not. But is this advice being followed? “It’s a mixed bag. There are some who are just waiting for the drug to push them, and they get stuck. There are others who don’t want to exercise,” he says.
He says the nutrition and fitness industries will only become more important in the age of GLP-1 drugs. “It’s a myth that GLP-1 drugs will replace nutritionists or fitness trainers. Drugs work best when patients follow diet and exercise advice, which means these professionals will be even more important,” Mittal says.
Ozympic Foods
It’s not just the fitness industry that’s raising the bar with Ozympic and its entry. Wellness chains are also gearing up for a strategic overhaul, creating integrated programs for people on GLP-1 that bundle medical supervision with nutrition and strength-focused protocols.
Seeing the explosion of GLP-1 in the US, Tushar Vashisht, CEO of digital health and wellness company Healthify, was confident that “wherever it’s launched, it’s going to be a blockbuster”. Last April, it launched Healthify Rx, a weight management program that combines GLP-1 medication with physician supervision, personal training and lifestyle tracking. Vashisht says that Rx has become one of Healthify’s fastest-growing verticals, having peaked at 10%+ in six months and is now “closer to 15-20%”. He believes it has the potential to grow exponentially as access to the drug expands.
Vashisht says the two biggest problems people have with GLP-1 are muscle loss and weight loss while on the drug. “Weight loss will happen. You can either take a lot of drugs or you can use less drugs, but also focus on diet and exercise. We try to do the latter,” he says. He added that lifestyle medicine works well. Its Rx Pro program, which covers diet, nutrition and fitness support, costs Rs 48,000 for three months.
Legacy weight loss chains also expect that even as GLP-1 accelerates weight loss, it will create more demand for their supervised services. Vikas Gupta, MD and CEO of Carlyle-owned VLCC Group, says that in markets like the UAE, where the drug has been around for a long time, consumers are increasingly attracted to holistic medical monitoring programmes. “Long-term results require a systematic program that combines medical monitoring, nutritional planning, muscle tone, skin tightening, lifestyle changes and behavioral support,” he says.
VLCC has a weight loss program that includes GLP-1 drugs. Gupta says that growing awareness of obesity as a medical condition in India, too, is driving more consumers to seek “reliable, science-backed health solutions.” “Our future focus is on strengthening safe, medically guided weight management programs that combine metabolic health assessment, personalized nutrition and muscle strengthening,” he adds.
Luc Coutinho, a Mumbai-based lifestyle supplement expert, says the excitement surrounding GLP-1 has fueled fears that they can change lifestyles. “People think it can take down the fitness industry and the nutrition industry. It can’t,” he says. Coutinho expects abuse to increase as talent improves. “We’re already seeing widespread misuse of GLP-1 where people who want to lose just four or five kilos are using the drug for people with high body fat percentage and weight and metabolic issues.” He also flags another worrying trend: “People are using ChatGPT to decide on dosages.”
Group support
Nutritionists are worried that India is going into the GLP-1 era without basic knowledge of body composition and nutrition. They point out that compared to Caucasians, South Asians have relatively higher body fat and lower lean mass at the same BMI—a “skinny-fat” risk profile that centralizes muscle maintenance, strength training and protein intake. Compounding this is the fact that Indian diets are consistently protein deficient, which raises the risk profile of people with respect to GLP-1 and makes nutritional and fitness guidance necessary.
Bengaluru-based lifestyle coach Nayantara Menon has another concern – whether the GLP-1 moment will set the country back on its slow progress from weakness to strength. At a time when women are moving toward a concept of health beyond strength training, good posture, active movement, and weight loss, GLP-1 can turn the narrative back on speed, leanness, and progress measured in pounds lost.
“GLP-1 has not reduced demand for gyms or trainers or nutritionists,” says Mumbai-based nutritionist Pooja Makheja.
Tahira Kochhar, a clinical nutritionist in Delhi, points out that users of these weight loss drugs need to monitor their nutrition as they face side effects like acidity, nausea and loose stools.
Among the 30 clients Makheja sees each day, at least two “need help getting off medication or want to take medication with my meal plan”. Kochhar estimates that about 15-20% of her addicted clients seek her help.
GLP-1 drugs may be a shot in the arm for weight loss, but people who are on them need a hand in terms of fitness and nutrition.
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