Keep your muscle while the weight comes off
Up to 40% of the weight lost on a GLP-1 can be muscle, not fat. Four nutrients, one scoop a day, about 35 calories.
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Where the 40% comes from
In the largest semaglutide study — the drug behind Wegovy and Ozempic — people lost about 15% of their body weight over more than a year, and almost 10% of their lean mass went with it. That's more than one pound in three coming from muscle rather than fat.¹
In the largest tirzepatide study — Mounjaro and Zepbound — muscle came to about a quarter of the total. Because the total was larger, the actual pounds lost could match or beat the semaglutide numbers.²
A 2024 review found the number can run higher without a plan: up to 40% of the weight lost coming from muscle, when nothing is done to protect it.³
Why your muscle matters more than the scale
You burn fewer calories
Pound for pound, muscle burns about three times the calories fat does, even at rest.⁴ Lose muscle and that number falls — and it doesn't come back on its own when the weight does.
What comes back is fat
Most people who stop a GLP-1 regain about two-thirds of the weight within a year, and it tends to return as fat faster than as muscle.⁵
What you're doing this for
Nobody starts a GLP-1 to end up weaker. Muscle is what carries a long day, a steep trail, a plan you made on a whim — the difference between losing weight and losing what you can do.
Keeping muscle beats rebuilding it
The muscle you have right now is the easiest muscle you'll ever have. Keeping it takes a scoop and a protein target. Getting it back takes months.
You burn fewer calories
Pound for pound, muscle burns about three times the calories fat does, even at rest.⁴ Lose muscle and that number falls — and it doesn't come back on its own when the weight does.
What comes back is fat
Most people who stop a GLP-1 regain about two-thirds of the weight within a year, and it tends to return as fat faster than as muscle.⁵
What you're doing this for
Nobody starts a GLP-1 to end up weaker. Muscle is what carries a long day, a steep trail, a plan you made on a whim — the difference between losing weight and losing what you can do.
Keeping muscle beats rebuilding it
The muscle you have right now is the easiest muscle you'll ever have. Keeping it takes a scoop and a protein target. Getting it back takes months.
Your medication is working on the weight. This is about keeping your muscle.
Four nutrients, four different jobs
Research on preserving muscle during weight loss keeps pointing to the same four.
Essential Amino Acids
Dose: 5 g, with a 2 g leucine pulse
The specific molecules your muscles listen for, delivered with almost no calories — which is exactly what matters when appetite is low.⁶
THE SPARK
Creatine Monohydrate
Dose: 5 g
One of the most-researched supplements in nutrition science, at the dose used across that research.⁷
THE ENGINE
Calcium HMB
Dose: 2 g
A leucine metabolite that signals the body to slow muscle breakdown. Research has used daily doses in the 2 to 3 gram range.⁸
THE SHIELD
Vitamin D3
Dose: 15 mcg
Paired with leucine-rich amino acids, it supported strength and physical function more than amino acids alone.⁹ An ingredient most muscle formulas leave out entirely.
THE CONDUCTOR
Essential Amino Acids
Dose: 5 g, with a 2 g leucine pulse
The specific molecules your muscles listen for, delivered with almost no calories — which is exactly what matters when appetite is low.⁶
THE SPARK
Creatine Monohydrate
Dose: 5 g
One of the most-researched supplements in nutrition science, at the dose used across that research.⁷
THE ENGINE
Calcium HMB
Dose: 2 g
A leucine metabolite that signals the body to slow muscle breakdown. Research has used daily doses in the 2 to 3 gram range.⁸
THE SHIELD
Vitamin D3
Dose: 15 mcg
Paired with leucine-rich amino acids, it supported strength and physical function more than amino acids alone.⁹ An ingredient most muscle formulas leave out entirely.
THE CONDUCTOR
We couldn't buy it, so we built it
Balaena Muscle Essentials is a daily muscle-defense formula — all four of these nutrients in one place, chosen to work on one problem from four directions. We went looking for something like it back in 2023, couldn't find one, and made it ourselves. Everything on the shelf meant four separate products to buy, store and remember, on the days you may not feel like doing any of it.
Most products aimed at this moment are general wellness formulas with a couple of muscle ingredients added on top. This one was built the other way round.
— Cheryl and Dave, Co-Founders
Image with text
Most muscle products were designed for people adding to their existing protein and calories. This one was built for the opposite problem.
- One small scoop, not a handful of pills
- Mixes clean in 8 ounces of cold water — low fluid volume, no chalk
- Naturally sweetened mixed berry, no artificial sweeteners
- Not a protein powder — it won't compete with your appetite or replace a meal
- Sixty seconds a day, sustainable on the days you don't feel like doing anything
Balaena Muscle Essentials
Four nutrients your muscles need, in one daily scoop — essential amino acids with a 2g leucine pulse, creatine, calcium HMB, and vitamin D3. Mixed berry, about 35 calories, mixes clean in cold water. Built to work alongside the protein you already eat, not instead of it.