Please explain lactic acid

spingirl605

I did a google search, and it is quite technical. I need it explained in lamens terms. Here's my story...
I have been using MFP for years and years. I understand how it works (CiCo). I've lost weight and was at goal for a year. Suddenly the scale is climbing and climbing...I'm very close to seeing a number that I NEVER EVER wanted to see again. I've tightened up my logging, increased my exercise, and cut back a lot on alcohol. I think what I'm experiencing is lactic acid build up, and here's why I think so...

3 weeks ago I got sick, and reduced my fitness activities to a bear minimum.
2 weeks ago I felt better, so increased my activity level significantly.
last week I re-introduced a progressive lifting program.

If it is lactic acid building up, how long will the scale continue to climb before I see that WHOOSH happen. I don't recall gaining so much weight last time I introduced the weight lifting program. I just kept losing. I weigh and measure everything, I log everything, I only eat back some of my calories from exercise. My diary is open. Weekends I don't log, but am still very conscious of what I eat, and have been working this way forever...Even while I was losing.

Thanks all!!

spingirl605

I need to add, that I haven't just been exercising for 3 weeks. I've been a fitness instructor for 17 years. I teach 2 spin classes a week, a step class, I run before my one spin class (I'm training for a dualthlon) and I re-introduced strenght training 3 days a week, but I'm only in my 2nd week of that...I didn't want people to think I have only been at this for 3 weeks, and that I should give it time...

L1zardQueen

Why don't you log your weekends because that can be a problem?

spingirl605

Well, I go out of town every other weekend. Usually the weekends that I am here, I do log. It's just difficult to do it when I'm away. But I've been doing that for over a year, and only started seeing this issue in the past month or so...

rybo

It's not lactic acid buildup that's causing your weight gain.

TimothyFish

Lactic acid builds up during strenuous exercise because your heart and lungs can't provide enough oxygen for the chemical reaction to complete. In a healthy person, your oxygen levels will return to normal and the lactic acid buildup will dissipate in a few hours.

Rather than lactic acid, it is more likely that your muscles are hanging onto fluid while they repair themselves. As you get more accustomed to your exercise routine they won't need to hang on to so much and the extra weight will go away.

NorthCascades

There is some debate and uncertainty about how it works. Below is what has been the accepted paradigm however it may change.

When you do strenuous cardiovascular exercise like running or riding a bike at a high intensity, you're using energy faster than you can get it by oxidizing fat, so your body also uses a good deal of glycogen to fuel your muscles. A byproduct is lactic acid buildup in your blood stream. This is what causes the feeling of being fatigued.

This all operates on a short term basis (minutes and hours) and it causes your performance to flag. It doesn't happen over weeks and it doesn't cause weight gain.