Weighted Vest Training & GLP-1 Therapy for MASH

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The Carry is a weighted vest built from the ground up for women. The founders, Esther Sedgwick and Cortney Bigelow, recognized how poorly traditional weighted vests fit female anatomy. They set out to design a product that could be worn for everything from lifestyle walks to full body resistance sessions. The vest includes:

Rucking benefits

Rucking, walking with added weight, turns a regular walk into an effective strength and conditioning session. With weight, your walks can build lean muscle, improve bone strength and push your heart rate and oxygen intake to a moderate or even vigorous intensity level (a categorization we will cover more of in the future). 

Rucking was once just a military training tool. It’s become a mainstream fitness practice. GORUCK, the leading brand in the space, now runs over 1,000 live events per year across 500+ clubs worldwide.

According to the Wall Street Journal, wearing a vest equal to 10% of body weight increases calorie burn by ~8.5%, while a 30% load boosts it by ~32%. You won’t feel the shoulder or back strain you normally feel with a backpack either because the load is distributed evenly across the torso. The modular weight system allows users to fully customize the resistance for their needs.

Crunch Fitness CEO said that women now account for more than 50% of lifting platform usage, a sign that weightlifting is becoming a core part of female gym routines. That shift is reflected in digital reporting as well. Strava reported strength training uploads grew 25% in 2024, making it the fastest-growing sport among women users. 

Why you should care

Muscle is a longevity engine and follows the principles of use it or lose it. A vest like The Carry makes it easy to add resistance to everyday movement or layer onto structured workouts. The result is simple: stronger bones, better posture, improved metabolism, and consistent muscle stimulus. Adding load to routine activity is one of the most straightforward ways to support long-term health.

Because The Carry is designed specifically for women, it removes the fit and comfort barriers that have held many back from weighted vest usage. With strength training continuing to grow rapidly among women, The Carry meets both the moment and the need.

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For the first time, a GLP-1 therapy has been approved to treat liver disease. This marks a turning point not only for hepatology, but also for how we think about muscle health.

The scale of the problem

Fatty liver disease is not a rare condition. Broadly defined as MASLD, it already affects about one in three American adults and is projected to climb toward 41% by 2050. The more severe form, MASH, currently affects about 6% of adults, or nearly 15 million people in the United States. That makes it one of the most common and fastest-growing chronic liver diseases.

What the data shows

On August 15, 2025, the FDA granted accelerated approval for Wegovy (semaglutide, 2.4 mg) to treat MASH in adults with moderate to advanced fibrosis (F2–F3). The decision is based on the phase 3 ESSENCE trial, which measured changes in actual liver biopsies. Patients on Wegovy showed significantly more improvement in liver inflammation and scarring than those on placebo. The trial will continue through 240 weeks to confirm that these tissue changes translate into better long-term outcomes such as fewer cases of liver failure or the need for transplantation.

After 72 weeks in the ESSENCE trial, 63% of patients taking semaglutide had resolution of MASH with no worsening of fibrosis compared with 34% on placebo. At the same time, 37% of the semaglutide group improved fibrosis without worsening MASH compared with 22% on placebo. These improvements were observed in patients already receiving diet and exercise counseling, highlighting the direct impact of the medication.

The muscle-liver connection

The liver and skeletal muscle are in constant metabolic communication. Muscle serves as the primary site for glucose disposal and acts as a reservoir for amino acids, while the liver regulates systemic inflammation and energy balance. When the liver is inflamed, muscles recover poorly, strength gains are muted, and fatigue becomes more pronounced. Research has linked MASH with sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass and quality). By improving liver health, the body becomes more responsive to training and more capable of building and maintaining muscle over time.

GLP-1s as whole-system medicine

Wegovy is already approved for chronic weight management and for reducing cardiovascular risk. In the SELECT trial, semaglutide lowered the risk of major cardiovascular events by about 20% in people with obesity or overweight who also had established cardiovascular disease. With the new MASH approval, Wegovy now addresses three of the most common metabolic conditions: obesity, cardiovascular disease, and liver disease through one therapeutic pathway.

Protecting muscle during weight loss

Weight reduction from GLP-1 therapies often includes some loss of lean mass, estimated in studies to account for 20-40% of the total weight lost. This is not the same as pathological muscle wasting, but it does underscore the importance of resistance training and adequate protein intake. Combining GLP-1 therapy with structured strength programs and sufficient dietary protein helps ensure that most of the weight lost is fat rather than muscle.

Why you should care

This approval signals a turning point. Fatty liver disease, once a background condition for millions, now has a treatment that also reduces weight and improves heart health. For patients, it means access to a tool that can reduce fatigue, improve recovery, and expand the body’s ability to respond to training. For coaches and clinicians, it means more individuals will arrive capable of tolerating progressive strength programs. For those invested in performance and longevity, it reinforces a central truth: when liver health improves, inflammation subsides, recovery improves, and the potential for muscle performance and longevity increases.

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