Will I gain weight at the gym if I'm trying to lose?

themakeupbelle

I've read that when you're losing weight your muscles will get denser and show a increase in weight on the scale.. should I be worried if I don't see any change on the scale? Or should I go back to just running at home

Chef_Barbell

Any weight gain will be temporary. Strength training retains the lean muscle that you have in a calorie deficit.

ccrdragon

if you are eating at a deficit, you will not 'bulk up' at the gym. you will get stronger and retain more of the muscle that you currently have, but you will not add muscle.

if you are not seeing the scale change, it could be for two reasons:
1. you just started (or changed) your workout, so your muscles are retaining water to repair and recover from the workout
2. you are eating more than you think you are - weigh and log every bite of food that goes into your mouth.

also, how long have you been exercising/trying to lose weight? you need to give any changes that you make 2-4 weeks to take effect.

BeeerRunner

The only time I gained weight since I've been working out was when I was eating too much. You'd have to be doing some serious body building to gain weight. Normal strength training isn't going to do that.

Chieflrg

Don't be worried and the temporary weight gain is usually water retention.

amusedmonkey

The gain is temporary, just some muscle repair. Don't worry about it. Some unlucky people like myself also experience increased appetite with strength training, which could slow down your loss a bit. Go for it and see how it goes, and if you experience increased appetite try to play with the frequency and/or intensity of your exercise to find a good balance.

jessef593

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make Is by going by total weight when they should be going by total body fat percentage. That way you can accurately measure fat loss. Also yes there will be a slight amount of weight gain due to water retention in your muscles, which will subside. It has nothing to do with gaining fat. As long as you're in a caloric deficit you will lose body fat.

Raptor2763

Fluid retention is usually the biggest reason for weight gain. As long as you're working out AND in a calorie deficit, however, you'll lose weight over time.

Ready2Rock206

Don't confuse water retention with muscle. If you're at a deficit no way are you getting big and bulky at the gym.

Sued0nim

themakeupbelle wrote: »

I've read that when you're losing weight your muscles will get denser and show a increase in weight on the scale.. should I be worried if I don't see any change on the scale? Or should I go back to just running at home

Where did you read that nonsense?

RoxieDawn

themakeupbelle wrote: »

I've read that when you're losing weight your muscles will get denser and show a increase in weight on the scale.. should I be worried if I don't see any change on the scale? Or should I go back to just running at home

You would give up strength training just because of fluctuations on the scale when common sense should tell you if you are eating in a calorie deficit you cannot possibly gain "real weight"?

SueInAz

themakeupbelle wrote: »

I've read that when you're losing weight your muscles will get denser and show a increase in weight on the scale.. should I be worried if I don't see any change on the scale? Or should I go back to just running at home

I think there may be a little confusion here. Your muscles don't get denser. Perhaps you read that muscle is more dense than fat, which it is. However, if you are eating fewer calories so you can lose weight you aren't going to really gain any muscle at the gym; it just doesn't work that way. You have to be eating to gain weight to gain muscle.

If you eat to lose weight and strength train you will retain more of the muscle you would have lost through the weight loss process. So you'll be losing weight but a little more slowly than you might have but you'd be firmer at your goal weight since more of what you lose will be fat.

There are some people who eat to maintain their weight and strength train in an effort to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. This is a very slow process. They stay about the same weight but they get smaller as they lose fat and replace it with muscle mass which is more dense than the fat they lost.

larryc251

I was also wondering if i should stick to cardio or if i could keep doing weight lifting and cardio. I was 341 lbs and have gone down to 308 in the past month and a half. I just recently started back with weight lifting though. I stick with about 1600 calories a day and go to the gym 6 days a week. Splitting the hour and a half im there with both cardio and weight lifting. Im trying to get down to 225. Am i on the right track? Or should i change something up? Just trying to figure out what would be best

cerise_noir

Not unless you buy an all dressed pizza and eat it all by yourself at the gym.

Keep lifting, eat in a deficit if you have more than 5-10lbs to lose. If you have around 5-10lbs to lose, do a recomp instead by eating at maintenance and lifting.

There is a temporary weight increase if you're just starting out with weights...it is water weight, just like any other new exercise or increase of intensity.

larryc251

Definitely no pizza for me lol. I stick to chicken and fish mostly along with my fruits and veggies and drink water like crazy. But ok thanks, ive lost 33 lbs so far but still got 83 lbs more to lose

SueInAz

larryc251 wrote: »

I was also wondering if i should stick to cardio or if i could keep doing weight lifting and cardio. I was 341 lbs and have gone down to 308 in the past month and a half. I just recently started back with weight lifting though. I stick with about 1600 calories a day and go to the gym 6 days a week. Splitting the hour and a half im there with both cardio and weight lifting. Im trying to get down to 225. Am i on the right track? Or should i change something up? Just trying to figure out what would be best

It really depends on your schedule. You need to make sure you're allowing a rest day between lifting sessions of the same muscle groups because the day of recovery between weight sessions is at least as important as the lifting itself. The rate of return on your investment of time in the gym diminishes, too. In other words, spending more time working out doesn't necessarily result in an increase in benefits. If you have 6 days per week to spend at the gym you might be better served by breaking things up a bit rather than doing both cardio and weights every day.

I lift weights and run on alternating days with one rest day per week. If it helps to illustrate, here's my schedule:

Monday - Run
Tuesday - Lift
Wednesday - Run
Thursday - Lift
Friday - Run
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run
Monday - Lift
Tuesday - Run
Wednesday - Lift
Thursday - Run
Friday - Lift
Saturday - Run
Sunday - Rest

and repeat. You could certainly choose to do the same things on the same days of the week and rest on the same day, too. I like to run every other day and my work schedule offers me every other Friday off so I like to take advantage of that for a 4th run that week so this works for me.

Alternatively, you could lift weights and do two different forms of cardio on alternating days. For example, Mon-Wed-Fri you lift legs and run. Tue-Thur-Sat you lift upper body/core/arms and swim. You could swap those, too, so your lifting isn't tiring you out for the cardio workouts. This still allows you one rest day between workouts of each muscle group.

larryc251

Thanks for the info SueInAz, i should have mentioned Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays i do upper body minus arms and Mondays Wednesdays and Saturdays i do lower body and arms but have been doing cardio 6 days straight. I like your routine though i may give that a shot

jolive7

Who cares about the scale (when you bring resistance training into it)? You are better off measuring your body fat and taking measurements

corgicake

You might. That's okay because the weight usually will eventually come off anyway. And if it doesn't, you'll still look like it did and be stronger than if you had dieted it off.

BusyRaeNOTBusty