Ozempic™, Wegovy™, Mounjaro™, and now, Zepbound™ - everywhere you turn, you hear about these new medications that have changed the weight loss world and are making a major impact on chronic diseases. The reality is that while 2023 has been flooded with media and excitement, it will likely continue - these effective medications promote, on average, 15-20+ percent weight loss.  

Now that these new medications are here, can we forget about diet and exercise when it comes to weight loss? 

If you asked me 20 years ago if I would be talking to you about using medications as a strategy for weight loss – I would have said, “No.”  

However, after working with thousands of people seeking to lose weight in both research and real-world settings, I now understand the complexity of obesity as a disease. Sometimes the path to weight loss using the traditional “eat less and exercise more” method is not enough, and additional support with medical management (like taking a medication) is needed.  

I get how confusing this can be, especially with all the media attention these new medications are getting and all the mixed messages out there. To simplify, let’s breakdown some common misconceptions that I hear a lot. Spoiler alert: being physically active is still important! 

#1 – Ozempic™ is the Magic Bullet for Weight Loss 

Ozempic™ is approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, not weight loss. The two popular medications that are FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved for weight loss are semaglutide (Wegovy™) and tirzepatide (Zepbound™). These medications were originally approved for type 2 diabetes and later approved for weight loss, which explains why there are different trade names.

So, are Wegovy™ and Zepbound™ the magic bullets for weight loss?  

Rule No. 1 – if someone tells you they have “the perfect” weight loss method or program, do not engage! Whether you are seeking dietary or physical activity support, only work with professionals who spend time determining what is best FOR you, not just overlaying their method ON you. Seek out support from registered dietitians and certified exercise professionals with experience in weight management and behavior change strategies.  

#3 You Can Use a Medication to Quickly Lose Weight and Skip Diet and Exercise  

I hear this constantly in my work, and sadly it is promoted a lot by influencers and celebrities. It sounds like the perfect solution, especially if you have previously struggled to lose weight with diet and exercise alone. Unfortunately, talking about using the medications in this manner is not recommended for several reasons:  

First, all these medications were tested and approved for use alongside a lifestyle program that includes healthy eating and physical activity. Using a medication without modifying diet and moving more is against what is recommended!  

Secondly, once a person comes off the medication, those hunger signals will come back, and this can be followed by weight regain.  

Third, any time you lose weight, you don’t just lose fat mass, but also lean mass. This is typical, but there is concern that higher levels of lean mass loss might be occurring with these newer weight loss medications.  

A big question is whether the lean mass that is lost is actually your muscle mass.  

Most people don’t realize this, but the terms “lean mass” and “muscle mass” are not the same. Muscle mass is only one aspect of your body’s lean mass. Researchers are currently studying the effect these medications have on lean mass loss that includes not only muscle but also bone, water, organs, and other body tissues.  

Why does this matter to you? Some people taking these medications report feeling weaker and taking care of your muscular health may help.  

This is where exercise may play an important role. 

Will resistance training completely preserve lean mass or muscle mass loss? The verdict is still out, and the answer is likely no. But we do know that resistance training is still beneficial for you during weight loss, and of course can improve feelings of weakness, and your overall strength and physical function.  

Some people taking these medications also report feeling fatigued or tired even though they have lost weight.  

Overtime, participating in a regular exercise program can improve feelings of fatigue. Moderate-intensity physical activity, as simple as brisk walking, can be a great place to start to increase stamina.  

Have I convinced you yet that these medications are not quick fix for weight loss?!?!  

Bottom line – a foundation in healthy eating patterns and a physical activity plan are critically important to support your weight loss journey to have you feeling your very best! They may help you keep the weight off and provide health benefits beyond what happens on the scale.  


Dr. Renee J. Rogers, Ph.D., FACSM, is a senior scientist at the University of Kansas Medical Center and also works as an independent healthy lifestyle consultant and strategist. She chairs ACSM’s Strategic Health Initiative on Behavioral Strategies and Summit Program Committees. Dr. Rogers is an expert in bio-behavioral intervention design with a focus on relevant engagement approaches that blends her 20+ years of experience working in exercise physiology, behavior change, and weight management. 

Past President Bill Roberts, M.D., FACSM was named ACSM’s first chief medical officer earlier this year. As 2023 comes to a close, we caught up with Bill to talk about his vision, priorities, progress and opportunities for 2024. 

What is your vision for the CMO role at ACSM? 

I would like to advance and align our clinical sports medicine strategy to encourage physicians and others with clinical doctorates to join and stay in ACSM as their home organization for continuing education and leadership opportunities. I hope to expand our content and advocacy efforts in support of sports medicine clinicians and integrate important cross-disciplinary issues for all ACSM members, both clinical and non-clinical. Part of this will be an effort to expand the medical category to include all clinicians with doctorate degrees who care for athletes, with a goal to unify clinical programs and solidify our sports and activity related clinical care teams. This will involve exploring the clinical universe for potential members with a focus on non-fellowship trained clinicians who can become Fellows of ACSM. 

What were your initial priorities when you started as ACSM’s CMO? 

My initial priorities as the inaugural CMO were to re-learn the administrative and leadership functions of the college. In the two decades since my time in the leadership of the college, much has changed. I have focused on meeting the staff and learning their priorities, and understanding the updated strategic plan that will drive the mission of the college over the coming years. 

How would you like to support ACSM’s physicians/clinicians in this role? 

Getting ACSM’s physicians and clinicians more involved in the committee and leadership structure of the college will help drive recruitment and retention. When I accepted the gavel as president of ACSM, I quoted an unknown source with “people go where they are invited and stay where they feel welcome.” I hope that we can amplify this philosophy across all parts of the college because, as someone else said, “we all do better, when we all do better.” 

What do you feel are the best opportunities for ACSM in 2024? 

I am eternally grateful to my early sports science mentors, Bob Serfass and Jack Kelly, for steering me to ACSM. I hope we can all steer our younger clinical colleagues toward ACSM as their future home in sports medicine. Our best opportunities to advance ACSM involve carrying forward- in all our college and professional activities- the work that so many have done to integrate medicine and science in sports and exercise. 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the premier landscape for amateur athletics in the United States. Contrary to the notion that sport participation in the United States is equitable, it has been observed that college sport participation is more prevalent among individuals with specific geographic, social, and financial advantages. This disparity in participation may disproportionately influence injury management and associated recovery trajectories, particularly among those from a lower socioeconomic status who have a serious head injury. A recent epidemiological study demonstrated that sport-related concussions, a mild traumatic brain injury, are prevalent in NCAA sport. Moreover, several studies have reported that sport-related concussion outcomes are influenced by biopsychosocial factors and social determinants of health. Accordingly, we sought to examine the intersection of the race of the NCAA student-athlete across household income and sport participation. We also examined the association between the race of the NCAA student-athlete and sport-related concussion recovery characterized as time to normal academic performance and return to play. 

Our study, published in the December 2023 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, leveraged data collected as part of the Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium. The CARE Consortium is a 30-site, prospective cohort study aimed at characterizing the short- and long-term effects of sport-related concussions in NCAA student-athletes and military service academy members. Participants were administered routinely used clinical concussion assessments prior to the competitive season and at discrete clinically relevant timepoints (within 48 hours, at the initiation and completion of the return to play protocol) following sport-related concussions. 

We found that across NCAA men’s and women’s sports, white-identifying athletes disproportionately participated (~75%) in all sports except for men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s football. Student-athletes in these same sports more often reported having come from households with a median income less than $60,000. This distribution is in stark contrast to NCAA sports such as men’s and women’s lacrosse and ice hockey, where student athletes came from households with a median income that was greater than $150,000. 

Across sport-related concussion recovery trajectories, we found that the race of student-athletes was not associated with time to normal academic performance or initiation of the return to play protocol. However, it appears that non-Black/white student-athletes (compared to white student-athletes) may be at a lower risk of completing the return-to-play protocol, suggesting a slower recovery or more cautious management. Additionally, Black student-athletes (compared to white student-athletes) were associated with an increased risk of being cleared for unrestricted return to play, which might indicate a quicker recovery or accelerated management. These findings highlight the need for further investigation into the underlying factors that contribute to these disparities. Regardless of the underpinnings of these findings, implementing return-to-learn and play protocols that consider individual recovery rates is the clinical gold standard. 

Despite a relatively homogenous NCAA student-athlete composition, our study suggests that self-identified race of the student-athlete appears to have marginal, and likely non-clinically impactful, associations with sport-related concussion recovery. It may then be reasoned that within the 30 schools sampled across the nearly 1,100 NCAA schools/universities that equitable sport-related concussion management is being performed. Despite this observation, we still acknowledge there will be NCAA student-athletes who suffer from implicit biases and further work is needed to elucidate those patterns to establish mechanisms for student-athletes to utilize when they feel their care is being mismanaged. 

Adrian J. Boltz, MSH, is a Ph.D. student in the Michigan Concussion Center at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the research associate for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program at the Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention. His research encompasses both sports injury epidemiology and sport-related concussion. Specifically, he is interested in understanding factors associated with sleep disturbance following sport-related concussion leveraging clinical measure, neuroimaging, and fluid biomarker data. He also serves as member of ACSM’s Exhibits Advisory Committee. 

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: Adrian J. Boltz is currently working (or has worked) on projects funded by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Department of Defense, National Athletic Trainer’s Association, and National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment. 

Viewpoints presented in ACSM Bulletin commentaries reflect opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent positions or policies of ACSM. Active Voice authors who have received financial or other considerations from a commercial entity associated with their topic must disclose such relationships at the time they accept an invitation to write for the ACSM Bulletin.  

Dr. Yasuo Kimura’s* journey to the 2023 ACSM Annual Meeting in Denver was far more involved than a mere international flight. At 80 years old, Kimura has long since retired from official duties, but he continues to pursue his work independently. The physical activity researcher is an old-school scientist, relying chiefly on measuring tape and a stopwatch to collect much of his data; thus, the perplexities of a post-pandemic online world — not to mention the added complication of operating in a second language — made it difficult for him to successfully submit his abstract to ACSM.

Of course, this wasn’t Kimura’s first rodeo. He has been a member of ACSM for more than thirty years — he still has the poster he presented at the 1986 ACSM Annual Meeting: “Simulated Swimming: A Useful Tool for Assessing the VO2 Max of Swimmers in the Laboratory” — and scrolling through ACSM’s available online records (from 2005 onward), one sees that he’d submitted no less than 17 abstracts, most of which related to physical activity in the aging population. (Before retiring at 65, Kimura had spent the previous decade working in a community services program for older adults.) And many of these abstracts were accepted. But as more and more ACSM operations migrated online, it became increasingly difficult for him to properly submit abstracts and register for events.  

To keep up with the times, Kimura sought assistance from colleagues, particularly Dr. Mieko Shimada, with whom he coauthored a number of studies. By 2018, he was also working with ACSM fellow Dr. Nobuko (Kay) Hongu, of Osaka Metropolitan University. Hongu had retired from a professorship at the University of Arizona roughly four years prior, and she was able to help Kimura better bridge the cultural and language gap between Japan and the U.S.  

In fact, Kimura and Hongu had first met in person at the 2016 ACSM meeting in Orlando, Florida.  

“He was presenting a poster,” Hongu says. “I asked, ‘Are you from Japan?’” — she was still teaching at Arizona at this point, and running into a fellow Japanese researcher was a pleasant surprise — “and we started chatting. ACSM really connects people.”  

With Kimura as lead author and Shimada and Hongu among the studies’ coauthors, Kimura had EIM posters and ePosters accepted in 2018 and 2019. In 2021 he submitted “Functional Characteristics of Musculoskeletal Ambulation Disability Symptom Complex (MADS) In Community-dwelling Older Women” as sole author but with Hongu’s sponsorship as an ACSM fellow. It was in 2022 that he ran into some issues.  

Kimura was once again working with Shimada and Hongu as coauthors, but he encountered a snag submitting the abstract. Enter Beth Reed, ACSM’s senior manager for meeting education. Reed got in contact with Hongu, and between the two of them they managed to iron out Kimura’s submission; ACSM accepted “Effects of Marching in Place and Chair Rise Exercises on Functioning in Community-dwelling Older Adults.” Kimura had intended to present his work in person in San Diego but was ultimately unable to do so because of the confusion and lingering red tape tangled around post-pandemic international travel. With a little more back-and-forth communication, Reed helped Kimura upload his work as an ePoster slide instead. The in-person presentation would have to wait.  

The next opportunity, of course, would be Denver. For 2023, Kimura submitted “Relationship Between Walking Frequency and Physical, Motor, Cognitive Functions in Older Japanese Women.” Shimada and Hongu were once again coauthors, along with Mamoru Hisatomi, Toshinobu Ikegami, and Kazuko Ohki, but Kimura had trouble inputting their names in the online form.  

Hongu, in light of her status as an ACSM fellow, had sponsored this paper as well. Consequently, she received a notification email when Kimura submitted the abstract. Noting the absence of the coauthors, she reached out to Reed, who was able to quickly address the error and ensure Kimura’s abstract was correct.  

At the time, Reed didn’t understand just how important her contribution was, either for 2023 or for Kimura’s previous ePoster in 2022. What had been a relatively routine task for her turned out to be a major gesture for Kimura. At long last, he was able to present his work in person at another ACSM meeting.   

It wasn’t until Hongu reached out to Reed at the Denver meeting that Reed really understood the impact her efforts had had.  

“Really it was normal, day-to-day job things,” Reed says. “We were all in tears when we met in Denver. They brought me gifts from Japan! This is why I love what I do because sometimes you forget how truly important this is to other people. Here I sit at this computer day to day and I do my job, send an email — but this was seriously like a highlight of their year. And when I saw that and got to meet them in person, it was just very eye-opening and thrilling and emotional.”

*This story follows Western name order, as used in the abstracts Dr. Kimura and colleagues submitted.