Body fat and heavy lifting

baybeejulia

Hey ladies,

So I started SL last Monday with a body fat of 25%. Ever since about Wednesday my body fat has jumped to between 30%-35%. This is just water retention right?

Despite two rest days, my body fat is still pretty high. Does that mean a person who does heavy lifting can't ever accurately measure their body fat? Will my body continue to retain water for the duration of the program?

Sumiblue

Body fat & water are two different things altogether. Sometimes an increase in weight due to water retention is mistaken as an increase in fat. I assume you are using a scale that gives BF reading? They are notoriously inaccurate. Caliper measurements or a Dexa scan is recommended for more accuracy. Or just take tape measure measurements. I use a scale that reads BF to watch the trend only. Since I know it's not accurate I don't so much worry about the number as much as whether it goes up or down. Even when I am not calorie counting my number has only gone up 1%, not 5-10% in a week. I think your device, whatever you are using, is faulty. If you are using calipers on yourself you probably aren't doing it correctly. It's difficult to do & someone who is experienced will be more accurate. And heavy lifting does not mean you can't get accurate readings. Eventually, the water retention goes down.

baybeejulia

Sumiblue wrote: »

Body fat & water are two different things altogether. Sometimes an increase in weight due to water retention is mistaken as an increase in fat. I assume you are using a scale that gives BF reading? They are notoriously inaccurate. Caliper measurements or a Dexa scan is recommended for more accuracy. Or just take tape measure measurements. I use a scale that reads BF to watch the trend only. Since I know it's not accurate I don't so much worry about the number as much as whether it goes up or down. Even when I am not calorie counting my number has only gone up 1%, not 5-10% in a week. I think your device, whatever you are using, is faulty. If you are using calipers on yourself you probably aren't doing it correctly. It's difficult to do & someone who is experienced will be more accurate. And heavy lifting does not mean you can't get accurate readings. Eventually, the water retention goes down.

Thanks for that. It's the Fitbit Aria scale, it measures body fat percentage.

I have been using it for about 12 weeks with a consistent body fat reading and a downward trend (from 29% to 25%), so there's obviously something amiss. The only thing that has changed is that I began weight training, and I've read that water retention from strength training can increase body fat on scales because of the way that they measure it. I just didn't realise it was so much and lasted even after two rest days.

Sumiblue

Okay, I see. I had not heard that scales would read water retention as body fat. My cheapo scale gives separate readings for BF and water%. I did not have this scale when I started doing Stronglifts so I cannot say that there was a jump in the reading. It's mainly showed a slow downward trend and then a little jump up when I stopped logging for a couple of months. Now that I'm logging again it is going back down again. So, while I don't trust the number I trust the change in the number. I think you can assume that you are not getting an accurate reading right now. Just give the program some time and everything will sort itself out soon. In the beginning of weightlifting you will (probably already have) experience DOMS. That is the muscle soreness you feel a day or two after lifting. I always felt it more on day 2. If you have DOMS you have water retention. That's okay, it's part of the muscle rebuilding process. It does not last long. Within a week my DOMS were gone. I only get them now if I've taken time off from lifting and then started back up again.

baybeejulia

Sumiblue wrote: »

Okay, I see. I had not heard that scales would read water retention as body fat. My cheapo scale gives separate readings for BF and water%. I did not have this scale when I started doing Stronglifts so I cannot say that there was a jump in the reading. It's mainly showed a slow downward trend and then a little jump up when I stopped logging for a couple of months. Now that I'm logging again it is going back down again. So, while I don't trust the number I trust the change in the number. I think you can assume that you are not getting an accurate reading right now. Just give the program some time and everything will sort itself out soon. In the beginning of weightlifting you will (probably already have) experience DOMS. That is the muscle soreness you feel a day or two after lifting. I always felt it more on day 2. If you have DOMS you have water retention. That's okay, it's part of the muscle rebuilding process. It does not last long. Within a week my DOMS were gone. I only get them now if I've taken time off from lifting and then started back up again.

Oh thanks! Yep I do have DOMS now and have had them all week.

MamaBirdBoss

I don't even bother with BF scales because they're so off. I use a mirror and guessing. LOL. As off as that is, it's closer than the scales are....