Anyone running tesamorelin alongside a GLP-1, worried about the muscle loss angle?

Posted by grinder265 in Protocols & Stacks - 2 points, 6 comments.

Been digging into the apollo stack concept and the thing thats nagging me is the muscle preservation question. Sema or tirz on its own already has that risk for endurance athletes like myself, add in aggressive caloric deficit and you can really eat into lean tissue if youre not careful. Tesamorelin supposedly helps with visceral fat specifically but its still GH mediated, so im not sure how that balances out.

Curious if anyone here has actually stacked a GLP-1 with tesa and tracked body comp over time. Dexa or inbody data would be ideal but ill take subjective reports too. Ngl im mainly wondering if the tesa offsets the muscle loss or if its just adding another variable to manage.

My training volume is high so im not super worried but i also dont want to come out of a cut looking flat. Whats been peoples experience, specifically on the strength and recovery side while running something like this. Also open to hearing what people are doing for protein intake and timing around the GLP-1 shot day since appetite is basically gone.

Comments

• reads_labrat: I ran tesa with a low dose tirz for about 14 weeks earlier this year. Dexa before and after, lean mass held within the margin of error for me, like under a pound of difference. Strength actually went up slightly which i wasnt expecting on a deficit. Appetite on shot day was zero, so i frontloaded protein early, usually a big shake right after my injection when i could still force it down. By day 3 i was hungry again so it kinda self corrected. My take is the tesa helped more than i thought, bu
• omar_m: Tesamorelin does have some visceral-fat specific data behind it, mostly in the HIV-lipodystrophy trials, so calling it a "body recomposition peptide" is a stretch in my opinion, fwiw. Your protein intake and training were probably doing most of the work keeping lean mass on. Honestly though, holding muscle on a real deficit is just gonna come down to protein and stimulus no matter what you stack.
• scientist_maya: Thats actually really encouraging, lean mass holding within margin of error on a real deficit with dexa proof is exactly the kind of data i was hoping to see. The shot day appetite thing hit me too on tirz alone, protein timing sounds like it saved you. Honestly sounds like the lifting and protein were doing most of the work though, tesa might just be the cherry on top? Hard to untangle for sure 🔥
• grinder265: Ngl i think you might be right about the lifting and protein doing the heavy lifting. Hard to tell if the tesa actually did anything specific or if i just didn't crash and burn like i usually do. I was definitely hitting my macros hard though. Did you notice any weirdness with your fasting blood glucose when you were on the tirz alone? Im kinda worried about how tesa might affect that if i add it in.
• grinder265: Ngl i mostly agree with you on the protein and stimulus part. I keep my intake pretty high since the volume is so intense, but i was hoping the tesa might provide some extra edge. That point about the hiv trials is fair, i might be overestimating the recomp side. Do you think the gh bump from tesa actually helps with recovery time between long runs, or is that just placebo?
• grinder265: Appreciate the actual dexa data, thats useful. Under a pound lean mass change on a deficit with strength going up, yeah thats basically the best case scenario and gives me some confidence the combo can work without torching muscle. The appetite timing thing tracks too, i usually crash hard the first 24-36 hrs after my shot so frontloading makes sense. Were you splitting your tesa dose or running it once daily at night? Im wondering if timing it away from the tirz shot helps with the appetite is

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.