Popular Gym Chain Will Offer Anti-Obesity Drugs to Members

With weight loss medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy currently all the rage in helping people drop pounds, one popular gym chain has announced plans to start offering the injectable drug to its members.

Life Time Fitness president and COO Jeff Zwiefel recently spoke with CNBC, revealing plans to meet the demands of club members who have been expressing interest in incorporating drugs containing semaglutide, the active ingredient in brand-name weight-loss medications, into their diet and fitness regimens.

"I am in the process of embarking on a pilot program that does exactly that," Zwiefel said. "For us to evaluate, through the use and deployment of physicians, physician assistants, [and] nurse practitioners that would be in-house at Life Time. He explained that the chain would work in an integrated way with members' primary care doctors along with with Life Time personal trainers and registered dietitians to create a comprehensive program.

However, the fitness chain will not be handing out the drug to just anyone. Zwiefel added that they will only approve the use of weight loss medications through extensive blood panel analysis and meeting FDA requirements of increased physical activities.

While some people may think that weight loss medications are an easy solution and a reason to skip the gym, Life Time's plans reiterate the importance of diet and exercise and will ostensibly not affect member attendance.

The chain is following in the footsteps of other weight loss brands who have already incorporated weight loss medications into their programs. 

Earlier this year, WeightWatchers acquired Sequence, a digital heath platform for clinical weight management with the ability to prescribe GLP-1s. Not long after, Noom launched Noom Med, a new program combining personalized medical solutions with the weight loss app's psychological support, "to make long-term, transformational weight loss possible."