new exercise routine and weight gain

TXHunny84

I started a new exercise routine on Sunday 8/5. A mix of different Jillian Michaels DVDs (one a day) and walking on my treadmill 30-60 minutes. I've been eating well and kicking butt in my exercise....today the scale shows a 4 pound gain. My legs especially my calves are really swollen too. I've heard this is water weight for muscle repair....? How long does it take muscle to repair and the water weight go down. More importantly- when will the swelling go down? My clothes fit tight already so having my legs be swollen isn't helping them to fit any better. :-/ I drink9-12 cups of water a day too....will that help or make it worse?

Barberini

I had the exact same issue last week when I started p90x, and I found the following article to be reassuring:
http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=why_the_scale_goes_up_when_you_start_a_new_workout_plan

I also read somewhere (I don't have the sources as I was just reading for me) that the pain is from water in the muscles as they repair themselves (stretching the fascia or something I guess), so as the soreness goes away, so will the water weight as you stop retaining. Drinking more water will definitely help, as your body needs water to get rid of water. And try to minimise your sodium as much as possible as that will make you hold onto more water too. I think it can be up to a few weeks before you will lose the water weight (I'm waiting a few weeks to weight myself again so I don't have any anecdotal evidence to give you).

TXHunny84

I had the exact same issue last week when I started p90x, and I found the following article to be reassuring:
http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=why_the_scale_goes_up_when_you_start_a_new_workout_plan

I also read somewhere (I don't have the sources as I was just reading for me) that the pain is from water in the muscles as they repair themselves (stretching the fascia or something I guess), so as the soreness goes away, so will the water weight as you stop retaining. Drinking more water will definitely help, as your body needs water to get rid of water. And try to minimise your sodium as much as possible as that will make you hold onto more water too. I think it can be up to a few weeks before you will lose the water weight (I'm waiting a few weeks to weight myself again so I don't have any anecdotal evidence to give you).

Ok thanks! Great article! I watch my sodium and try not to have much at all. I'll keep pushing on....but ugh I how the swelling leaves my legs soon...