{"id":752,"date":"2026-06-20T13:10:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752"},"modified":"2026-06-20T13:10:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:10:28","slug":"are-glp-1s-performance-enhancing-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752","title":{"rendered":"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Before Serena Williams picked up her racket at London\u2019s Andy Murray Arena last week, two questions hung over her return to tennis.<\/p>\n

Read more The Forgotten Founding Father<\/a><\/p>\n

First: How would she do? She answered that, in her first competition in nearly four years, by winning. The 44-year-old and her doubles partner, the 19-year-old Victoria Mboko, ended up besting the third seed in their opening match of the Queen\u2019s Club tournament. Their victory was sealed by a 116-mile-an-hour serve from Williams that her opponents couldn\u2019t return.<\/p>\n

The second will take longer to answer: Did a GLP-1 weight-loss drug enhance her performance?<\/p>\n

Williams is a paid spokesperson for Ro, a telehealth company that specializes in such medications. In ads, she says that she lost 34 pounds with the help of GLP-1s. It\u2019s unclear whether Williams is still on her drug of choice, tirzepatide (her publicist declined to comment), which has helped her lose stubborn baby weight and manage her cholesterol. Although there\u2019s no indication that she took it to gain a competitive advantage, Williams has also said that the medication improved her training and her game. The drug \u201chelped me enhance everything that I was already doing\u2014eating healthy and working out, whether it was as a professional athlete at the top level of tennis or just going to the gym every day,\u201d she told People<\/em> magazine in August.<\/p>\n

With her comeback, Williams is the first active elite athlete to publicize her use of GLP-1s. But the world of sports is full of whispers that she is not the only one. The more athletes who follow Williams\u2019s lead, the more urgent the question of whether GLP-1s should be treated as performance-enhancing drugs will become.<\/p>\n

The World Anti-Doping Agency, which sets rules adopted by most international sporting leagues, has said that it is keeping a close eye on whether GLP-1s are being abused; for now, athletes are free to take them. (A Ro spokesperson told me that \u201cany patient who receives a GLP-1 prescription through Ro has been determined to be clinically eligible for that treatment by a licensed medical provider.\u201d) But experts are divided over whether GLP-1s have the potential to improve athleticism. \u201cI can\u2019t see that there would be much of an advantage at all to using these substances in an athlete,\u201d Thomas Hudzik, a pharmaceutical consultant who has served on the advisory group that recommends what drugs WADA should ban, told me. Meanwhile, Lars Engebretsen, the head of WADA\u2019s health, medical, and research committee, told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that he believes the drugs should be banned, but mostly because they could exacerbate eating disorders.<\/p>\n

Opinions diverge because no studies have yet tested these drugs in elite athletes. Williams\u2019s return to tennis\u2014which will continue with a doubles appearance alongside her sister Venus at Wimbledon\u2014is one of the first opportunities, as far as we know, to see how an elite athlete performs after taking a GLP-1. So far, the results have been uneven: She won with Mboko at the Queen\u2019s Club, but lost her first doubles match at the Berlin Open this week. Doubles also demands less of athletes than a singles match does, so Williams\u2019s full abilities have not yet been tested in competition. (Tennis fans are eager to know if Williams will get a wild-card singles spot at Wimbledon too.) \u201cThe jury is out in terms of endurance, stamina,\u201d Rick Macci, who trained Williams during her childhood, told me.<\/p>\n

Read more The Wall the Tohono O\u2019odham Don\u2019t Want<\/a><\/p>\n

Being trim can be an advantage in some sports. A lighter frame can reduce the amount of effort needed for, say, climbing, running, or gymnastics. And weight is built into the structure of other sports. Wrestlers, for example, must weigh in to qualify for their matches. The popular strategy is to get just under the maximum weight for a given class\u2014a process that GLP-1s might make easier. \u201cIt makes perfect sense in weight-category sports,\u201d John Hawley, the director of Australian Catholic University\u2019s Centre for Human Metabolism and Performance, told me via email.<\/p>\n

But whether GLP-1s will deliver meaningful weight loss for athletes already in tip-top shape is an open question. No major trials have tested GLP-1s in healthy people with a normal or low BMI, so it\u2019s unclear how much weight such people might lose on the drug. That could mean that among elite athletes, the drugs might have significant effects for only a small group, including Williams, who are seeking to get back into shape. Several clinical trials have also shown that GLP-1s can reduce an inflammation marker in the blood\u2014but it\u2019s still unclear how much of that improvement is the result of weight loss or an independent effect of the drugs.<\/p>\n

Besides, being light isn\u2019t necessarily an upside if it means a reduction in strength. Roughly 25 to 35 percent of the weight that GLP-1 patients lose is lean mass, according to a meta-analysis published in March. Athletes using GLP-1s will need to closely watch their diet and training to make sure they maintain muscle (perhaps while dealing with the vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea often associated with GLP-1s). Plus, GLP-1s are believed to dampen dopamine signaling, which \u201cmight actually put the lid on initiative and drive and competitiveness,\u201d Ziyad Al-Aly, a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis who has studied GLP-1s, told me. Lack of research is a problem here too, Al-Aly emphasized: The best evidence of this hypothetical effect is a preprint study that found that mice sought out their exercise wheel less after being injected with semaglutide.<\/p>\n

Some studies on the effects of GLP-1s in certain sports are now under way. WADA, for example, is funding a trial to test how semaglutide changes runners\u2019 body composition and performance. But pharmaceutical companies are actively testing new types of weight-loss medications that may have different effects on muscle, as well as combinations of GLP-1s with other drugs meant to preserve strength. Some of those drugs, such as a class that overrides the body\u2019s natural limit on muscle growth, are already banned by WADA. Every new weight-loss medication will complicate any tenuous understanding of how these drugs affect athletic performance.<\/p>\n

Determining whether a drug should be banned is not solely a scientific endeavor: WADA bases its decisions in part on whether the use of a drug violates \u201cthe spirit of sport,\u201d which it defines as \u201cthe ethical pursuit of human excellence through the dedicated perfection of each Athlete\u2019s natural talents.\u201d Athletes earn our admiration because they work hard to perfect skills that most of us could never imagine having. We marvel at baseball sluggers because hitting a small ball traveling 90 miles an hour requires hard work; regularly hitting it 400 feet is that much harder. When a hitter takes an anabolic steroid, the wonder is largely lost.<\/p>\n

Williams became a tennis icon in part because of her relentless desire to compete. Even as a child, \u201cshe would run so hard to try to get to the ball, she\u2019d fall,\u201d Macci said. When she competed in the Australian Open while pregnant in 2017, she defeated every opponent who faced her, without dropping a set. Being 44, having two kids, and struggling with extra weight didn\u2019t stop her from returning to professional tennis. Yes, she was probably lighter and quicker because she took a GLP-1. But a good comeback embodies the spirit of sport, too.<\/p>\n

Read more The Seven-Headed Hydra at the End of Finance<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A weight-loss medication eased Serena Williams\u2019s comeback. Experts can\u2019t agree on whether that\u2019s doping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\nAre GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs? - Commercial Relocation Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs? - Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A weight-loss medication eased Serena Williams\u2019s comeback. Experts can\u2019t agree on whether that\u2019s doping.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-20T13:10:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"headline\":\"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T13:10:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752\"},\"wordCount\":1274,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d63204f9052def8f47b7ba3e8bdb4c1a.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752\",\"name\":\"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs? - Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d63204f9052def8f47b7ba3e8bdb4c1a.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T13:10:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d63204f9052def8f47b7ba3e8bdb4c1a.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d63204f9052def8f47b7ba3e8bdb4c1a.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":625},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=752#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs? - Commercial Relocation Pros","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs? - Commercial Relocation Pros","og_description":"A weight-loss medication eased Serena Williams\u2019s comeback. Experts can\u2019t agree on whether that\u2019s doping.","og_url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752","og_site_name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","article_published_time":"2026-06-20T13:10:28+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"headline":"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs?","datePublished":"2026-06-20T13:10:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752"},"wordCount":1274,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d63204f9052def8f47b7ba3e8bdb4c1a.avif","articleSection":["Health"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752","name":"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs? - Commercial Relocation Pros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d63204f9052def8f47b7ba3e8bdb4c1a.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-20T13:10:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d63204f9052def8f47b7ba3e8bdb4c1a.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d63204f9052def8f47b7ba3e8bdb4c1a.avif","width":1200,"height":625},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=752#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are GLP-1s Performance-Enhancing Drugs?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/","name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com"],"url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}