# What each dose step did.

A dose step is the stretch of time you spend on one dose. GLP-1 medications usually start low and step up, and your prescriber decides each step. Max HP, a GLP-1 dose tracker for iPhone, groups your doses, weigh-ins and check-ins by step, so you can compare one dose with the last.

Coming soon to the App Store [What the labels list](https://maxhp.me/glp-1-dose-chart)

Dose step Dose Weigh-in 7-day average

The Ladder, with example data.

## How to read the Ladder

- **The bands**: Each dose step gets its own colour, from the day you started it to the day you moved on.

- **The staircase**: The dashed line steps up with each dose, so a change in dose lines up with what came next.

- **The dots**: Your weigh-ins. Daily weight moves around with water, salt and the time of day.

- **The line**: The 7-day average of your weigh-ins. It’s the one to read for a trend.

- **The marks underneath**: Days you checked in with symptoms.

## Step Reviews

When you’ve been on a step a while, Max HP puts it beside the one before:

- **Weight rate**: Change per week on this dose, from the 7-day average.

- **Side-effect days**: How many days you logged symptoms, and which ones.

- **Appetite and food noise**: How your check-ins changed.

- **Doses on time**: How many of the expected doses you logged, and when.

A Step Review describes what you logged. It doesn’t say whether to stay on a dose or change it, and it never suggests one. It gives you and your prescriber the same picture to decide from.

## What the labels say about dose steps

The US labels for weekly GLP-1 pens describe starting at a low dose and increasing in steps, usually every four weeks, up to a maintenance dose. The Zepbound® label, for example, says: “The recommended starting dosage of ZEPBOUND for all indications is 2.5 mg injected subcutaneously once weekly for 4 weeks.”

That’s the label’s schedule, not a plan for you. Your prescriber may change the pace, for example for side effects. The [GLP-1 dose chart](https://maxhp.me/glp-1-dose-chart) lists the strengths each label covers, with links to the labels.

## The level curve

Max HP Pro can draw an illustrative curve of medication across your dose week, from each label’s published half-life. It’s labelled as an estimate and stays off until you turn it on. It shows the general shape of a dose week, not your blood level.

## Questions

**What is a GLP-1 dose step?**

The time you spend on one dose before your prescriber changes it. Most weekly GLP-1 medications start at a low dose and step up. In Max HP, each step is one band on the Ladder and one row on the Clinic Report.

**Does Max HP tell me when to increase my dose?**

No. Max HP never suggests, calculates or changes a dose. Your prescriber decides your dose; Max HP records it.

**What if I stay on a dose longer, or go back down?**

Log the dose you’re on. When you log a different amount, up or down, Max HP asks whether to start a new step, and the Ladder draws it as it happened.

**Why use a 7-day average for weight?**

Weight moves day to day for reasons that aren’t fat: water, salt, digestion and the time you weigh. Averaging a week smooths that out, so a step’s trend is easier to see.

## Read more

- [GLP-1 dose chart](https://maxhp.me/glp-1-dose-chart)

- [GLP-1 dose steps, explained](https://maxhp.me/blog/glp-1-dose-steps)

- [Why your weight jumps, and why a 7-day average helps](https://maxhp.me/blog/weight-trend-7-day-average)

- [The Clinic Report](https://maxhp.me/clinic-report)

Updated 3 November 2026

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Canonical: https://maxhp.me/dose-steps · Updated 2026-11-03