Can one workout cause a gain on the scale?

jojo19812018
jojo19812018 Posts: 66 Member
edited January 2019 in Fitness and Exercise
I’ve been losing weight consistently for about 3.5 months now. I did a PT session with a personal trainer 2 days ago and my legs are so sore I can’t walk properly. The thing is, today I weigh 2 pounds heavier. Is this normal from just one session? Did squats, lunges ect. Also, is it normal to be that sore?
Thank you

Replies

  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,374 Member
    edited January 2019
    Yes - your muscles hold onto water to aid in recovery/repair from strenuous exercise. It is also normal to be sore if the exercises were new/different/harder than what you are used to.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    Yes - your muscles hold onto water to aid in recovery/repair from strenuous exercise. It is also normal to be sore if the exercises were new/different/harder than what you are used to.

    ^ yep.

    I've gone up as much as five pounds the day after lifting.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    The opposite can happen with intense cardio sessions. I did an interval run one day at a hilly park on an extremely hot day (about 100 with the heat index). The course was over 7 miles. I weighed myself before I left for the park, and then again when I got home. I weighed 9 lbs. less after the interval run.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    The opposite can happen with intense cardio sessions. I did an interval run one day at a hilly park on an extremely hot day (about 100 with the heat index). The course was over 7 miles. I weighed myself before I left for the park, and then again when I got home. I weighed 9 lbs. less after the interval run.

    Go sit in the tub and have a drink. That 9 lbs comes back pretty quick. I've dropped 10 lbs on a warm day running 15KM, but it's very temporary.
  • Vladimirnapkin
    Vladimirnapkin Posts: 299 Member
    Yes!! Quite common for a hard workout (or race) to make me a couple pounds heavier for a day or two.
  • TrishSeren
    TrishSeren Posts: 587 Member
    Yep when I started back at the gym I held 1.5kg of water weight for about 10 days.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    The opposite can happen with intense cardio sessions. I did an interval run one day at a hilly park on an extremely hot day (about 100 with the heat index). The course was over 7 miles. I weighed myself before I left for the park, and then again when I got home. I weighed 9 lbs. less after the interval run.

    Go sit in the tub and have a drink. That 9 lbs comes back pretty quick. I've dropped 10 lbs on a warm day running 15KM, but it's very temporary.

    You could say the same for once your muscles recover and don't need to hold onto that water anymore. Just takes a couple days, compared to re-hydrating being much quicker.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    Tacklewasher wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    The opposite can happen with intense cardio sessions. I did an interval run one day at a hilly park on an extremely hot day (about 100 with the heat index). The course was over 7 miles. I weighed myself before I left for the park, and then again when I got home. I weighed 9 lbs. less after the interval run.

    Go sit in the tub and have a drink. That 9 lbs comes back pretty quick. I've dropped 10 lbs on a warm day running 15KM, but it's very temporary.

    You could say the same for once your muscles recover and don't need to hold onto that water anymore. Just takes a couple days, compared to re-hydrating being much quicker.

    Seems like 9 pounds of dehydration is potentially a little risky, depending on your body size, so you'd want to take steps to recover it quickly?

    A couple of pounds extra water for muscle repair is NBD, completely normal, healthy even.

    OP, it's normal to be very sore at first, as long as you're talking general muscle soreness sensation, not something that feels like injury (sharp pains someplace, for example).

    Keep moving (slowly is fine), do a little stretching and/or foam rolling, take a hot bath (epsom salts if you've got 'em), be sure to drink enough water (not crazy amounts, just sensible), and all that normal sort of symptomatic relief stuff.

    The degree of soreness should be less, as you continue to do the workouts. The beginning is the worst, and resting up until you feel completely over the soreness is not the best strategy. Talk to your trainer about how sore you were, and whether s/he thinks your intensity should back off a bit (I'm betting you'll get "no" ;) ).

    Sympathies!
  • jojo19812018
    jojo19812018 Posts: 66 Member
    Thank you so much for clearing that up for me. My trainer probably will say no to backing off but the problem is I need to be able to do a lot of walking at work so the last 2 days have been a real problem. 😊
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    jojo19812018 wrote: »
    I’ve been losing weight consistently for about 3.5 months now. I did a PT session with a personal trainer 2 days ago and my legs are so sore I can’t walk properly. The thing is, today I weigh 2 pounds heavier. Is this normal from just one session? Did squats, lunges ect. Also, is it normal to be that sore?
    Thank you

    Depends on the intensity of the workout.
    After my first half marathon I gained 13lb, took just over a week for it all to drop back off.
    Last Sunday's 14miles saw me put on 2lb (possibly more as I'm eating at a deficit).
    The pain is also very normal, I always know when I've been pushed extra hard, the aching is just your body getting used to the extra activity and repairing itself. Make sure you drink plenty and keep moving, the aching will probably start easing now and drinking plenty of fluids will encourage the water weight to drop.

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