Weight gain with new exercise program

fdlewenstein

I understand you can gain (water) weight after starting a new exercise program. I just started an isokinetic program and have completed two sessions. The day after the scale showed a gain of one pound. It took about three days and I had a drop below where I started. I'm not too concerned about the fluctuation of weight, but rather how long should I expect a little weight gain after a session? I plan to train two times a week (with the isokinetic program). How long can it take for the body to adjust? I also walk and work out on the elliptical and never really saw the weight gain after exercising.

quiksylver296

No way to answer your question. Everybody is different.

For me: If the exercise makes my muscles sore, I'm going to see water weight gain on the scale.

AnnPT77

There are three general possibilities, but they're points in a possible range.

First, if you start doing a new workout at intensity X, duration Y, and frequency Z (such as cycling at 15mph for a half hour daily, say), your body may be quite challenged by it when you start, and have enough need for repair that you'll see the related water weight on the scale.

If you keep that activity going steadily, staying with the same X-Y-Z, your body is likely to adapt, require less ongoing repair (a little, but not enough to notice the water effect on the scale amongst other factors).

In that case, the water weight will appear when you first start doing the exercise, then effectively disappear once the adaptation period's mostly done (few days to couple weeks, maybe>.

In another scenario, you might repeat the same activity, keeping some challenge/adaptation in the picture, but with enough recovery between sessions that the water weight adds after one workout, but drops before the next. Some people see this pattern from strength training.

The final case is when the exercise is done frequently enough, and with enough challenge every time, that the water weight adds at the very start, and pretty much stays constant as long as that exercise pattern continues. Some people see this effect from strength training.

I think the difference between case 2 & case 3 may be individualized physiological responses, not necessarily differences in exercise routine.

Anything in between, or combinations, could happen, too.

It would not be expected that you'd add water weight with your first session, add more the second session, and just keep increasing water weight additions indefinitely. It will at most extreme level off, in a healthy body, fairly soon (few days to couple weeks, usually).

If you're losing fat that's masked on the scale by water retention, you'll see the scale start dropping after that water effect levels off, or between the up/down if it's cyclical for you.

Conceptually, whatever your personal water-weight pattern, it sits on top of the regular fat/lean pattern in the background, such as on top of the general downhill scale weights we see while losing.

I hope that makes sense.

fdlewenstein

That makes a lot of sense. If I'm understanding correctly my body has a fat/lean pattern and a water weight pattern.

AnnPT77

fdlewenstein wrote: »

That makes a lot of sense. If I'm understanding correctly my body has a fat/lean pattern and a water weight pattern.

Exactly.